An Odd Alliance
by NYCDMan
Summary: Akatsuki's movements were caught by the Fourth Raikage, who realizes just how dangerous the group could be. He strikes up an agreement between Konoha and Suna regarding the creation of a very special team... an allied team of jinchuriki, taught by the Yonbi jinchuriki: Roushi.Taken from my "Operation VAT(Village Alliance Team)" Challenge, currently being co-written with "Etc Flip".
1. The Meeting of the Kage's

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or it's character's in any way, shape or form.**

**AN: While the idea was mine, I did not write this alone, this story is being co-written with "Etc Flip", check out his other fanfic's, like "A Different Result" or "Alternate Timeline".  
**

**Minor note's about his story:  
**

**1: The event's in this story take place after the "Search for Tsunade Arc".**

**2: Yugito is the same age as Naruto in this Story.**

**3: Roushi defected from Iwa 3 years before the start of the story, as such he has no affiliation with them.**

* * *

******Chapter 1: The Meeting of the Kage's.**

**-Former Village Hidden in Hot Water-**

Tsunade, the newly-instated Fifth Hokage of Konoha, made her way into the plain building. It was agreed upon to hold the meeting in this particular building due to its obscurity.

She was running somewhat late due to problems on her end. Once she had been sworn in as the new Hokage of Konoha, several issues had been brought to her attention. Quite a few of them were related to the village's budget and how damaging the Sand-Sound joint invasion had been.

That particular issue had been solved – somewhat – by the new Kazekage, who she had yet to meet in person. The Kazekage had generously offered to help with repairs and had sent over monetary funds. A small smile found its way onto Tsunade's face; Konoha was already well on its way towards recovery.

Unfortunately, another issue had arisen. A missive was sent to Konoha by the Raikage, causing anxiety and general panic alike. Some ninja thought that Konoha would again be at war, but the letter's contents were much different than what was expected.

Akatsuki had been skulking around the Land of Lightning and had attacked one of Kumo's jinchuriki. The Raikage had realized just who had attacked and figured out what the group of powerful missing-nin might be targeting.

The Raikage had made an educated guess, but he was ultimately correct. Anyone seeking to capture jinchuriki was dangerous. Simply ignoring such a group wasn't an intelligent decision.

So, Kumo's leader had suggested the formation of a special team – for reconciliation and self-defense purposes, of course. The team would benefit Konoha, Kumo, and Suna, who had also been offered a place on the team.

Really, all three villages had something in common that warranted the formation of the team. Tsunade had been uneasy about such a thing at first, but Jiraiya had convinced her to give it a shot. He was doing his part, so she would do hers.

The team itself would likely benefit Naruto as well, given the caliber of the ninja that had attacked him while he was with Jiraiya.

"Tsunade-sama, we're here," Shizune whispered, knocking the busty blonde out of her thought process. Tsunade nodded and opened the door that led into the room where the other Kage were likely meeting.

One of the conditions for the meeting was that one bodyguard was allowed, and only one. Shizune was Tsunade's choice and the other Kage had followed that condition.

The Raikage, a burly, dark-skinned man by the name of A, had a white-haired man standing behind him. Tsunade and Shizune recognized him as Darui, lone inheritor of the Third Raikage's infamous Black Lightning.

The Kazekage was, oddly enough, a kunoichi just like her. Unlike A and Tsunade, who were wearing casual clothing and their Kage hats, the new Kazekage actually had her robes on. The hat was on top of the table she was seated at.

Her dark green hair and orange bangs hung loosely from her head and she had a disinterested expression in her pupil-less brown eyes. "Oh, you're finally here? Can we get a move on, please?" Pakura of the Scorch Release mumbled.

Tsunade blinked at the casual way she had just been introduced and chose a nearby table to sit down at. Shizune dutifully took her position behind Tsunade and straightened her spine. "So, you're the new Kazekage..." Tsunade said, inspecting her equal. "I've got to say, I'm glad it's a kunoichi."

Pakura's posture remained languid and she didn't reply. A chose to speak instead. "I know you're both aware of why I called this thing," the Raikage rumbled. "One of my jinchuriki was attacked near the border of Lightning Country."

"Oh? That was really true?" Pakura mumbled. Her cheek was resting in her palm. Tsunade was vaguely reminded of when she had met the Jounin Commander.

A vein throbbed in the Raikage's temple, but Tsunade acted before the man could retort. "Our resident jinchuriki was attacked as well," the busty blonde announced. "He managed to escape without any injuries, however."

"Robes and red clouds, right?" Pakura asked, yawning slightly.

The Raikage noticeably calmed down and nodded. "Akatsuki. They attacked the jinchuriki of the Nibi, but she managed to escape. It has also come to my... _knowledge_, that we know of two, possibly three other jinchuriki that are nearly the same age as Nii Yugito."

"Yes, we're aware that there are spies everywhere," the Scorch Release user lazily remarked. Her eyes were drooping, but she somehow still seemed alert and awake. "So what you proposed earlier was to take Gaara-kun, Yugito-chan, and the Kyuubi jinchuriki and throw them all in a team."

The Raikage nodded. "Yes, that is what we're aiming for. The Toad Sage Jiraiya has already found an instructor who realizes the gravity of the situation, and is willing to teach them."

"Don't you have a brother who can help with that?" Tsunade asked, staring directly at the Raikage.

The tall man scoffed. "He has his own responsibilities and I doubt Yugito can take too much of him at one time. The others will have their patience tested in the same way."

"Fine," Tsunade replied. "Do you really believe they will all get along, even if they're all jinchuriki? International teams like this haven't ever been formed before." For good reason, too.

"Not initially," Pakura said. Her bodyguard, Baki, nodded slightly in agreement. "Gaara-kun is still somewhat unstable, although his tendencies have been going down in the past few weeks. I'm sure Konoha still has some reservations about us as well."

"Obviously," the Raikage said. "However, I believe Akatsuki is more than threat enough to ignore a few disgruntled ninja."

"Hold on," Tsunade interrupted. "Why Konoha? Why not Suna, or Kumo?"

"Gaara-kun needs more practice outside of the desert and I'm sure A-kun over here wants to help fix that issue that sprang up ten years ago," Pakura mumbled, a slight smirk adorning her pale face.

"That had nothing to do with the leadership!" A bellowed, smashing his fist into the desk. That event was obviously a sore topic in Kumo, too.

"Calm down," Tsunade said with a frown. "If the Akatsuki are really that much of a threat, and Jiraiya has assured me that they eventually will be, then international problems will need to be bypassed. This has the potential to become more important than petty squabbles of the past, recent or not."

Pakura put her arms on the table and straightened her body. "Your Toad Sage and the teacher are nearby. Are we in agreement? Will a team built around potential targets be created to prepare against this possible future threat?"

The Raikage was already in agreement. Tsunade sighed to herself before speaking. "This will end up being a tentative alliance. I hope none of us end up doing anything to destroy the team before it can truly yield results."

Kumo was treacherous and Suna had attacked Konoha only a month beforehand. Still, the three ninja leaders were hoping that the rising threat that was Akatsuki would bind them together.

"Oh, nice speech there, Tsunade-hime." Jiraiya's grating voice floated in the air as he burst through the doors, striding in with a cocky grin on his face. Behind him was a well-dressed man with red hair and a scowl on his face. "I suppose everything's already in order?"

"Doesn't that look obvious, Toad Sage?" the well-dressed man growled. "I can't believe I'm going to end up teaching three brats. Dad always said I'd get stuck doing something like this eventually." The man snorted.

The three Kage were eying the man with intense scrutiny. They all knew who he was, but Tsunade felt that the situation was pretty humorous. A ninja from Suna, a kunoichi from Kumo, and a sensei from Iwa. All of which would be in Konoha.

Humorous indeed.

"I'd like you all to meet-"

"Roushi," the now-named man cut in. "I'm sure you all know I'm Onoki's adopted son and the jinchuriki of the Yonbi."

"Of course," Pakura smoothly replied. "I'm more surprised as to why you agreed to such a thing. Iwa doesn't particularly like Konoha. Suna doesn't particularly like Iwa, either."

"I'm aware," Roushi rumbled, not particularly wanting to discuss his issues with his home. "My reasons are my own. I'll swear fealty to you fools, but I don't want your noses in my face. I get free reign in teaching the youngsters. I don't want word of who I actually am to be leaked. Dad would get pretty annoyed."

"So you think that Akatsuki will become an issue too?"

Roushi snorted at the blonde woman. "Hell no. A group of people attempting to capture jinchuriki is funny as hell. Jiraiya did mention payment though, and I am a fan of gambling." The man ran a hand through his rust-colored hair. "Despite that fact, I'll help my kin."

Roushi didn't want to just decline and neglect the three young jinchuriki that were out there. He might have failed with Han, but he could at least try with three more malleable brats.

Pakura smiled slightly, seeming satisfied. The Raikage grunted in approval, and Tsunade allowed a small smirk to show on her face.

Roushi swore fealty to the newly-allied villages without much enthusiasm. The irony of the situation was not lost on him.

* * *

**-Konohagakure no Sato: Hospital-**

"Uh, what did you say, Sasuke?" Naruto blinked rapidly as he took in Sasuke's intense stare.

Sasuke threw his legs out from the hospital sheets and grunted. "I said, fight me, dead-last. Right now."

"Sasuke-kun, you're still recovering! You shouldn't-"

"No, Sakura-chan," Naruto interrupted, "I accept." Naruto threw a smirk of his own towards Sasuke. If his friend and rival wanted a fight, then he'd get one. It was what both of them had wanted ever since Team Seven had advanced past the Forest of Death.

Sasuke got up from his sitting position and walked towards the door. It was easy for both Naruto and Sakura to see that their teammate wasn't injured or otherwise hurt.

"You two aren't about to fight in the hospital room, are you?"

Naruto and Sasuke both stumbled and whirled around to see Jiraiya, perched on the edge of the window. He had a cheeky smile on his face and was obviously amused at startling all three genin in the room.

"Ero-sennin!" Naruto cried, giving his other perverted sensei a grin. "When did you get back? You and baachan only left like a few days ago."

Jiraiya touched down on the hospital floor and smirked. "Well, when you're as great a ninja as I am, you can go anywhere. Plus, being fast helps."

Sasuke scowled. For some reason, Jiraiya, the legendary Toad Sage, had been teaching Naruto during the chunin exams. How else had Naruto been able to summon toads to fend off that monstrous being during the invasion?

"So, uh, why are you here, Ero-sennin?" Ordinarily, Sakura would've muttered something regarding respect to Naruto, but she was still perturbed at the Sage's appearance.

"You're coming with me, Naruto," Jiraiya said, his expression serious.

"Did I do something wrong?" The jinchuriki scratched his cheek, carefully going over the amount of pranks he had done ever since he had become a ninja. It wasn't much at all and he hadn't done anything ever since the invasion. There wasn't a point to.

"You didn't do anything wrong, but Tsunade-hime wants to introduce you to some people," Jiraiya explained.

He got an owlish blink in return. "Do I have to go now?" Naruto wanted to fight Sasuke, damn it.

"Right now. Your fight with the boy in pajamas will have to wait." Jiraiya paused and threw both boys a frown. "Are you two really going to fight inside a hospital? There are other people in here, you know."

"We weren't going to fight in the hospital!" Naruto exclaimed. "Jeez, Ero-sennin. We're smarter than that. Shouldn't you be smart enough to realize that?"

Naruto got a knuckle to the head from Jiraiya for being really disrespectful.

"Come on, Tsunade-hime's waiting. You don't want to get her angry, do you?" Naruto paled at that comment and quickly jumped out the window. Jiraiya watched him run with a perturbed look. "Huh, I've never seen him run that fast before."

Sasuke growled before leaving the room. Sakura bowed the Jiraiya before hurrying after the last loyal Uchiha. "Did I say something wrong?" Jiraiya asked himself. After a few seconds, he shrugged and jumped out the window too.

Being an extremely high-level ninja, Jiraiya caught up with Naruto pretty quickly. The blond boy was about to enter the Hokage's office, but Jiraiya stopped him. "Easy, brat. These people are pretty suspicious of this place in general."

"Why would they be suspicious?"

Jiraiya rolled his eyes. Well, he could tell Naruto one was from Kumo, another was from Iwa, and the final one had been defeated by him a few weeks ago, but where was the fun in that? "You'll find out. They are, after all, your new team." Without waiting for Naruto to reply, Jiraiya opened the door and shoved Naruto in.

The Uzumaki stumbled into Tsunade's office and nearly fell, but quickly caught himself. He saw a scowling Tsunade, an apologetic Shizune, a familiar redhead, and two other ninja he didn't recognize.

"Finally decided to join us, Naruto?" Tsunade dryly commented.

"I blame Ero-sennin," Naruto quickly replied, pointing towards where Jiraiya had entered the room.

The Senju sighed. "Naruto, do you recognize any of these people?"

The Uzumaki nodded and let his gaze stray towards Gaara. The Ichibi jinchuriki gave him a terse nod and a hesitant smile, but otherwise did not move. The other two were eying him closely, like they were dissecting him with their eyes.

One of them looked vaguely uncomfortable. He had a strange headpiece on that had a plate of armor running across his nose and cheeks. The man probably liked the color red; he had red hair on his scalp and on his face. In addition, his shirt and pants were both light-red, and he had a mesh armor-shirt underneath. In addition, he was wearing calf-length sandals.

He also had some sash-like thing around his waist that Naruto thought looked pretty strange.

The other person looked like a kunoichi, one that seemed fairly close to his own age. She had dark eyes and long blonde hair that was tied in a ponytail. She was wearing a short-sleeved black and purple blouse, black pants, and fingerless gloves. She was wearing her forehead protector in its proper position.

With a start, Naruto noticed the symbols. Both the man and the younger kunoichi weren't from Konoha. Their forehead protectors – or what passed for a forehead protector in the man's case – denoted them as originating from Iwagakure and Kumogakure, respectively.

"I recognize Gaara, but who's the geezer and the girl?"

Roushi snorted. It looked like he had a disrespectful outcast as a pupil. A quiet murderer, and serious loyalist, and a disrespectful outcast were to be his students. Maybe he should've refused the position to begin with.

"Naruto, these three are your new team, based on an alliance that Konoha, Suna, and Kumo has negotiated," Tsunade explained.

Naruto frowned. "Are you serious, Tsunade-baachan? I can't just ditch Sakura-chan and Sasuke like that! I still owe Sasuke a fight, too." He grumbled to himself and looked away at the Hokage's sharp look.

"Stupid brat," Tsunade muttered. "Listen, you four are a special team. In fact, you're probably the only team that's been brought together like this in shinobi history."

"So why are we special?" Naruto asked, cocking his head slightly.

Roushi groaned at palmed his face. "We're all jinchuriki, brat," he rumbled.

The Uzumaki scratched his head in confusion. "What's a jinchuriki, geezer-san?"

"For crying out loud," Roushi said, annoyed at his future pupil's lack of knowledge. "You have the Kyuubi sealed in you. The term for that is jinchuriki." Roushi had to speak quickly to prevent Naruto from interrupting.

It hadn't been necessary in the end though. Naruto was shocked into silence by this stranger's knowledge. "H-Hey! You're not supposed to know something like that," Naruto cried, stuttering slightly.

"Even I didn't know it, my own Tailed Beast would tell me," Roushi replied. He shook his head at Naruto's dumb-founded expression. "Get over yourself, brat. I'm Roushi, container of the Yonbi. This little girl down here is Nii Yugito, container of the Nibi. You are acquainted with Gaara, but for clarity's sake, he has the Ichibi.

"All four of us are jinchuriki. I'm going to be your teacher and instruct you on how to control your powers. I don't care if you don't like your demon since your future is more grim than a mass of chakra resting in your belly."

"Akatsuki was on the move, but they're out of sight for now. So, we have time to train you in preparation for their future attacks," Tsunade added, elaborating for the youngest blond in the room. "You remember Uchiha Itachi, right?"

Naruto nodded. He wouldn't admit it, but going up against Itachi and that weird shark-man had scared him. Naruto found it funny that he was more afraid of a mortal being than the Kyuubi, but Itachi did technically kill of his entire clan. That was a _lot_ of people.

"According to my contacts," Jiraiya began, speaking for the first time since he had entered the room, "there are eight other ninja of similar strength to Itachi. They're all targeting jinchuriki and any group that wants to extract Tailed Beasts from their hosts is dangerous."

"What happens if they extract the Tailed Beasts?" Naruto was generally curious. Not having a gigantic stigma stuck inside you felt more like a blessing than anything else.

"You die," Roushi said, speaking before Jiraiya could.

Naruto audibly gulped.

"In order to stop this criminal group, an alliance was made between Konoha, Suna, and Kumo. Kiri is in a civil war at the moment and Iwa doesn't really like us," Tsunade said.

"Speaking of which, I'd like to have an explanation for _that _later," Roushi spat, pointing his thumb at Naruto.

Jiraiya and Tsunade flinched and pointedly avoided Naruto's gaze. "I don't get it," Naruto murmured.

There was a tired sigh from Jiraiya. "I'll explain it to you later, brat. In any case, Roushi is going to teach you in the ninja arts from now on. I'll still be overseeing your training from time to time, but you're probably not going to be in a team with Sasuke and Sakura, nor will Kakashi be teaching you."

The blond hung his head, saddened that he'd lose most of his contact with his crush and rival. At least he could still seek them out for a friendly chat though.

"Don't be like that, Naruto," Jiraiya quickly added. "You're still going to remain in Konoha, but you'll just have a different team." He doubted Kakashi wouldn't take it upon himself to check on Naruto as well.

"All right, Ero-sennin," Naruto finally muttered. He shrugged and forced a grin onto his face. At least Gaara was with him. "When do we start training? Or at least, team meetings?"

"Now," Roushi declared. "I want to get proper introductions over with and an assessment of their skill levels. If any ninja other than the Toad Sage attempt to interrupt us and their reason is less than satisfactory, I will _maim_ them as an example. My association with my previous home is not to be confused with my loyalties." Even if they weren't completely set in stone.

Tsunade nodded in agreement before turning to Yugito. "Very few Hyuuga bear grudges for what your village attempted to do years ago, so you should be fine. I do advise staying away from them, however."

Yugito saluted Tsunade, her back ramrod straight.

"Follow me," Roushi rumbled. He left the room without waiting for any of his new students.

* * *

**-Training Field Sixteen-**

The sun was still high in the sky. That was good; it meant that Roushi had enough time to assess and judge his students.

Training Field Sixteen did not have any sort of significance to any of the ninja present. It was picked due to its number and nothing else. There was a nearby pond with several trees and bushes littered throughout the grassy area.

Roushi came to a stop near a large tree and turned around, glancing down at his three new jinchuriki pupils. "I am going to assess your level of skill here. You will refer to me as _Roushi_, or master." He had failed at being a sensei once, so for now, he didn't deserve that recognition.

"So what do you want us to do, Roushi?" Naruto asked. He wouldn't admit it, but he was feeling nervous. Gaara was fairly quiet and seemed keen on observing his new teacher, but he had no idea on how to act towards Yugito.

"I doubt you all have any idea on how to work together, so you're going to fight each other. I'll pick the odd one out to spar with me," Roushi explained. "But first, we'll start with introductions. I'm sure you all realize each ninja present isn't from a directly allied country, so I'll go first.

"My name is Roushi and I've renounced my surname. I'm related to the Third Tsuchikage, although we've never really liked each other. Obviously, this means I'm from Iwagakure. I like to eat fruit, gamble, and meditate at times. I don't like incompetent brats, nor do I like people who insist on taking too much of everyone's time."

After a moment of silence, Naruto decided to interrupt. "Roushi, don't you have a dream or something?"

A grim look appeared on his face before it turned into a frown. "At the moment, I guess you could say that my goal is to make up for my previous failures. The chatty blond can go next."

Naruto adjusted his forehead protector and grinned. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto from Konohagakure! I don't know my parents, but my likes are ramen, Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, Ero-sennin, even if he is a big pervert, and Tsunade-baachan! I don't like how long it takes to heat up instant ramen, and I don't like Sasuke-teme. My dream is to become Hokage so that I can protect everyone in the village," he finished.

There was a scoff from Yugito, but Gaara nodded slightly. "I agree with Naruto, except for the ramen part. I am Gaara of the Sand, the offspring of the Fourth Kazekage and Karura," Gaara blandly stated. He ignored Naruto's scowl.

Roushi stared at the Ichibi jinchuriki before gazing at Yugito. She took it as a go-ahead to begin speaking. "My name is Nii Yugito, of Kumogakure. I am the non-biological niece of the Fourth Raikage. I like tekkadon and milk, and I am trying to learn how to play the shamisen. I dislike any and all enemies of Kumogakure. My goal is serve Kumo valiently, like my predecessors have before me."

Their teacher examined Yugito before grunting. Gaara and Yugito were what he expected, but Naruto was just a bit too enthusiastic for his tastes. "Now that introductions are over, who wants to volunteer for a fight?"

Naturally, Naruto jumped forward.

"All right," Roushi said, nodding to Naruto. The boy had apparently already fought Gaara, so the Yonbi jinchuriki pointed at Yugito. "You two are going to fight, while Gaara and I observe. I will fight Gaara after this." Gaara walked away from Naruto and Yugito, shifting his body slightly to accommodate his gourd.

Yugito assumed a fighting stance while Naruto just rocked on the balls of his feet. "Anything goes," Roushi declared. He doubted the jinchuriki could kill each other anyway. The Tailed Beasts would certainly stop them if such a thing were about to happen.

Naruto, tired of waiting, ran forward at an unseen signal. Yugito tensed her body as Naruto ran up to her. She sidestepped the initial clumsy swing and hooked a foot behind his ankle. The Uzumaki lost his footing and consequently, the air in his lungs as Yugito delivered vicious right hook to his stomach.

Even as Naruto tumbled backward, Yugito didn't allow him a moment or reprisal. She sprang forward like a cat, her nails elongating and aiming towards Naruto's whiskered face. She slashed, and was rewarded with the shredding of wood.

There was a rustling and Naruto, accompanied with five clones, dashed out of a nearby bush. All of them had cocky grins on their faces.

Roushi frowned. What level of training was this? The boy was clumsy and didn't seem to be trained well at all. He knew a high-level, _solid_ clone technique, but that was it. That, and he seemed to be a lot more durable than any child Roushi had seen before.

As Yugito dispelled the shadow clones, a loud screeching reached his ears. In Naruto's hand was a small, glowing blue ball. Naruto charged forward at Yugito, who stood frozen at the sight of one of the Fourth Hokage's famous attacks.

Nonetheless, as Naruto approached and thrust his hand towards Yugito's shoulder, she grabbed his wrist and diverted the attack. It harmlessly dissipated in the air as Naruto's control over the technique vanished and the Uzumaki found himself on the ground. Yugito's knee was on his back and her – rather soft – hand was holding back his arm.

"I think this spar is over," Roushi rumbled. Yugito was impressive with her coordination and speed, but Naruto's ineptitude might have caused him to overestimate her skills.

Naruto grumbled to himself and pushed his body up. He wanted to be a good sport, but Yugito had already walked away from him. He frowned at that, but she was a... _jinchuriki_ like he was, so she might've had a few quirks.

He knew he did. Iruka and Kakashi pointed them out quite often.

"Before we go on, I'd like to ask you something. How the hell are you a ninja?" Roushi was not pleased. Naruto was more along the lines of a casual genin who had access to one high-level technique.

"Hey!" Naruto indignantly cried. "I passed the graduation exam like everyone else did." Well, almost. The rest was sort of... details.

"Graduation exam? When the hell do jinchuriki take graduation exams?" Roushi asked. He shook his head. "Never mind. Konoha must have left that stereotype alone." Konoha was certainly more than powerful enough to do so.

"Jinchuriki don't take graduation exams?" Naruto said in a confused manner.

"I don't sugarcoat things, brat," Roushi said. "I have no doubt that those shadow clones help you, but you have next to no actual fighting stance, very little speed, and I'm pretty sure your probable stamina is the only thing that's gotten you so far. Really, I find it to be a damn miracle you can even use the Rasengan."

Naruto frowned. He was used to putdowns, but criticism was something else. So he wasn't as good as he thought he was? Maybe he should've refused to fight Sasuke had challenged him to earlier on in the day. It wasn't as if anything had come out of it though.

"So... what can I do to improve?" Naruto meekly asked.

"I'll figure it out tomorrow," Roushi grunted. He turned to Gaara and led the boy onto the field. "Remember, anything goes."

There was a pop and sand came rushing out of Gaara's gourd, heading straight towards their teacher. Naruto and Yugito watched from the sidelines.

"So... you're pretty good," Naruto began, really hoping that his fellow jinchuriki wasn't like Sasuke.

"I've been training ever since I became a jinchuriki," Yugito replied lowly.

"Oh. I've, uh... just been training ever since I've become a genin, which was a few months ago."

"That much is obvious, considering your lack of skill," Yugito said. "What kind of village doesn't even train their weapon?"

"I'm a ninja, not a weapon," Naruto muttered.

"We're jinchuriki and therefore, we _are_ weapons. Your ignorance isn't an excuse. I suppose it won't matter though, considering we're being trained by one of our own."

Naruto blinked. Well, at least she thought he would become stronger. Her opinion on them being weapons grated on his nerves though. It felt like Haku and Zabuza all over again.

As Roushi somehow turned the sand around Gaara to glass, the Suna-nin surrendered. Roushi brought them all together and folded his arms over his chest. "My first opinion of you all is that we have a weak link. You, Naruto, are that weak link."

"Gee, thanks," Naruto sarcastically said.

"Nonetheless, I can probably fix you up. I might have to find the Toad Sage and ask him some _questions_, though. Yugito and Gaara are both easily chunin-level, while you're still definitely a genin, brat. Considering our enemies in the future, we can't have that. Meet me back here in the afternoon, after you have eaten." With that, Roushi dismissed them all before vanishing in a burst of speed.

"Eh... I don't think I'm that bad," Naruto murmured. Yugito simply turned away and headed to where she was staying.

"I do not think summoning a giant toad would've been useful for a friendly spar," Gaara stated. He give Naruto a small smirk before he too left, but not before uttering a good-bye.

The Uzumaki rubbed his chin. He might as well tell all of his friends how he was now in a new team. He didn't really want to tell them he was a jinchuriki though.

Not yet.

**To be Continued...**

* * *

**AN: I hope you liked the first chapter! Before you ask, Pakura's Shikamaru-ish personality was ****Etc Flip**'s idea, witch I found pretty funny in it's own way...  


**Anyway, please R&R and don't forget check out me and ****Etc Flip**'s other fanfic's!** Peace!**


	2. Team Dynamic's

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or it's character's in any way, shape or form.**

**AN: While the idea was mine, I did not write this alone, this story is being co-written with "Etc Flip".**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Team Dynamic's  
**

**-Forest of Death-**

"Why are we _here_?"

Roushi sighed to himself and, without turning around, answered his loudest student. "This is probably the most dangerous place in Konoha, aside from wherever your Anbu train. It's also the most excluded, meaning that we can use other abilities without drawing the attention of the villagers."

Naruto scratched his head and peered around the dim forest. He still didn't like it here, especially since the last time an extremely powerful ninja masquerading as a genin attacked he and his team, "What do you mean? Training grounds don't really get anyone's attention."

"Tailed Beast chakra tends to attract attention." Yugito blandly informed.

Oh. So that's what Roushi wanted to do, "I thought I was the weakest here?", Naruto asked with a tilt of his head. Didn't his sensei want to work on his skills?

"You _are_ the weakest of us all. Utilizing the chakra of your Beast will help make up for that. Your muscles will rip and tear during strenuous exercise and the chakra of the Tailed Beast regenerates them. This results in stronger muscles and is generally a shortcut only jinchuriki can utilize." Roushi stopped them in a clearing and turned around, "In addition, all of you need to get used to working with excessive amounts of that chakra. It isn't your own power, but its destructive capabilities are high."

"You're not going to throw me off a cliff, are you?", Naruto edged away from his sensei as he said this.

Roushi snorted, "As long as you're able to draw on the Kyuubi's chakra, I don't care what happens." He paused for a moment. "You _can_ draw on the Kyuubi's chakra, right?"

"Yeah, I can. Ero-sennin taught me how to do it.", Even if Jiraiya's way of teaching Naruto to draw on the Kyuubi's chakra was insane, it still worked.

"The hermit wasn't lying after all," Roushi muttered. He looked up at the canopy of the clearing. Small rays of sunlight were able to penetrate the leaves, but the majority of the area was dark and smelled of moss. "How much chakra can each of you draw on?"

"I can transform into a Tailed Beast state, but I must fall asleep and relinquish control of my body," Gaara immediately answered. Yugito simply held up a single finger.

When Roushi glanced at Naruto, he got a confused look in return. "Err... I can use some chakra, but the fox is kind of stingy."

Roushi stroked his long beard in thought. Then he grunted in irritation. "Yugito is the strongest out of you all. She's able to draw on more than both of you without losing her mind. You don't lose your mind, do you?" Yugito shook her head.

Naruto had a quizzical expression on his face while Gaara was... slightly less stoic. Roushi decided to explain. "All jinchuriki have the capability to use their Tailed Beast's chakra. Tailed Beast chakra is different than human chakra. It's more intense, more powerful, more _otherworldly_. It is because of this that that kind of chakra will likely give off what we interpret as an ominous, dark feeling.

"This intense power is not usually meant for human use. When that chakra is used, its power begins to overrun and corrupt the body and mind. In short, you can't tell who's your enemy and who's your friend." Naruto looked slightly queasy at that. "Without your mind, you become much easier to deal with, if a bit more dangerous due to the power overload."

"So Yugito is stronger than Gaara and I because she can use that chakra and think at the same time?"

Roushi nodded in approval. "Correct, brat. Generally, stressful situations can make you draw on your Tailed Beast's chakra, but everyone here has learned to use it without relying on such a situation. That makes my job much easier."

"I want you all to draw on as much of the chakra as you can use without going crazy," Roushi rumbled. He folded his arms over his chest and waited. "That's an order, by the way."

The three younger jinchuriki all stared at him. Finally, Naruto and Yugito nodded while Gaara shifted slightly in an accepting motion. Yugito and Gaara, both of which were next to Naruto, split away in order to get some much-needed room.

Seeing his fellow jinchuriki close their eyes and begin to concentrate, Naruto decided to do the same. He took a deep breath and reached deep within himself.

The Kyuubi opened a single eye in its cage, slightly amused at what was happening. Its brethren were quite close and oddly enough, the Yonbi was forcing their links closed. The giant fox couldn't reach the others via telepathic communication. Not that the Kyuubi would normally want to, of course.

Maybe there was a reason behind the Yonbi's behavior. That would have to be looked into at a later opportunity, such as when the seal was either broken or subverted to its will. A small amount of chakra was released by the Kyuubi and went to empower its container's body.

A wave of what could be perceived as malevolent chakra washed over Roushi. He remained stoic, not at all uneasy at the three vaguely different emissions.

Yugito had a blue, fiery cloak of chakra around her body. It extended about an inch from her pores and clung to her feminine shape. Two cat-like ears of pure chakra protruded from the sides of her skull. Her face was even more angular than before and her eyes were glowing blue. A single, blue tail swayed behind her.

Much to Roushi's disappointment, nothing in particular happened to the other two. A red aura briefly pulsed around Naruto's body before it faded and Gaara's gourd lost its shape before returning back to normal.

Jiraiya hadn't said much about Naruto's seal, so Roushi didn't know if there were any limitations. As for Gaara, he was well-aware of that jinchuriki's own problems. Those would need to be circumvented if Gaara would have any chance of safely using Shukaku's powers.

"Interesting," Roushi remarked. He walked over to Yugito and raised an eyebrow as her body tensed. She remained still, however, and her aggression was kept in check.

Then he lashed out with a punch, sending the cloaked Yugito flying backward in surprise. The attack was so sudden, so fast, that Naruto and Gaara just stared in shock at what their sensei had done.

Yugito's hands, with her fingernails slightly extended, clawed into the dirt, stopping her momentum from carrying her into the nearest tree. She hissed loudly and exhaled a fireball the size of her own body.

Roushi pivoted on his legs, evading the fireball, and jumped forward. Despite Yugito channeling chakra through her body, she wasn't quite speedy enough to keep up with her sensei. Roushi jabbed her shoulders, ribs, and stomach with powerful, crippling punches.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Naruto shouted, running forward to defend his teammate. Gaara followed Naruto's lead and his gourd broke into a mass of sand that was sent hurtling towards Roushi.

Several clones popped up next to Naruto and the group charged towards Roushi. They were all handily defeated by Roushi's superior speed and power, and the sand Gaara had sent towards him was turned to glass and shattered whenever it made contact.

Yugito's chakra tail whipped forward, slashing across Roushi's body before suddenly vanishing. The Nibi jinchuriki's chakra cloak vanished and she stumbled to her knees in surprise. Naruto was glaring at Roushi and Gaara was watching them all impassively.

"There was one more thing I wanted to tell you all," Roushi stated, staring down his pupils.

"Why did you just attack her like that? You're supposed to be our teacher," Naruto interrupted. His glare didn't lessen.

Roushi growled. "Did my attack emphasize anything?"

"Just because we are jinchuriki does not mean we are invincible," Gaara noted. His sand – parts of it, at least – had returned to him. "Even with the Tailed Beast's chakra, we are not guaranteed to succeed in battle."

"Yep. All four of us, as well as five others around the nations, have a group of S-rank missing ninja after what we hold. While I'm an S-rank ninja myself, even I would have trouble with others of my skill level. While I will train you all in using your Tailed Beast's chakra, it's better to keep it as a secondary source of strength rather than as a primary one."

"So then why are we learning to use the chakra now?" Naruto blurted.

"I wanted to see for myself how far you three are and the state of your seals," Roushi slowly explained. "A jinchuriki is two minds within one body. When two minds within a body clash, problems arise. You don't want these problems during your battles. I doubt it'll happen immediately, but you should attempt to be pleasant to your Beasts. They hate asinine morons as much as any other person does."

Naruto got the feeling that Roushi was speaking directly to him.

Roushi's chakra surged and two earth clones rose up from the earth. "Naruto, with me. The two clones will take Gaara and Yugito. I'm going to get a closer look at how brats all fight."

Naruto followed the real Roushi into a different part of the forest. After a few minutes of walking, the duo stopped in another clearing. "From my perspective, I can see some issues you have," Roushi began. "Some of them are likely already highlighted, such as your lack of diversity and intelligence."

"Hey!"

"Granted, some of that intelligence comes with experience, but I do expect you to be smart during battle. No rushing someone just because they made you angry, got it?" Roushi fixed Naruto with a stern look.

"Yeah, yeah..." Naruto muttered, refusing to meet his sensei's eyes.

Roushi continued his lecture. "A lot of people say that a ninja is at his most powerful when he becomes an unfeeling tool. Based on what I've been told, you believe that's wrong."

"Well, yeah. I mean, look at the Fourth Hokage! He was able to seal the Kyuubi away because he wanted to protect Konoha!"

Roushi nodded. "Yep. Ninja are capable of great things when they want to protect something. It's when we try out hardest, after all. However, that doesn't mean you need to succumb to your emotions during battle. For other ninja, they'll die if that happens against any half-assed enemy. For a jinchuriki, though-"

"We lose control, don't we?" Naruto interrupted. He had a frown on his face and was thinking back to when Haku had nearly killed Sasuke. He had been so angry that he hadn't even realized that his nails had elongated, that he had become fiercer and more vicious. The needles that were so much trouble beforehand were rendered useless as he raged on.

"When a jinchuriki loses control, they became a danger to everyone around them. Depending on how strong your seal is, the amount of power you unleash can vary from something like Yugito's form to something like Gaara's full transformation. Eventually, if the container is unable to retain control, the Tailed Beast can break free."

An involuntary shiver ran down Naruto's spine. In his mind's eye, he saw a fully realized Kyuubi destroying Konoha and slaughtering all of his friends.

"A reinforced seal can help solve this, but it is more useful to retain iron-clad control of your emotions. That will also help you during stressful battles in which your life is at stake. When you're in control, you can think through and process a battle much more efficiently, resulting in a higher chance of successfully leaving that battle."

The blond was sitting on the ground, staring up at his sensei with rapt attention. He wondered why Kakashi never told Team Seven anything about that. Kakashi didn't really do much of anything, actually.

"So keep in control during a battle," Naruto commented, nodding to himself. "Got it."

"You better get it," Roushi grouched. "I'd rather not have to bring back the dead body of a bratty, annoying teenager who'll always be ignored in his useless and unwanted life." Naruto bristled slightly, but remained calm. Roushi's lips twitched.

The armored man walked around the clearing, as if he was pacing. "Obviously, you know a high-level clone technique. However, despite the massive amount of chakra you have, you're not being efficient if you simply keep sending out clones to do your work. What would happen if you ran out of chakra?"

"I'd either die or use the Kyuubi's chakra," Naruto nonchalantly replied. He'd been nearly killed enough times to disregard death.

"Always be sure you have enough chakra for a Replacement Technique. In addition, take these." Roushi took a set of four bracelets from one of his pouches and lobbed them at Naruto. "These are weights. They have seals on them that'll progressively make them heavier whenever I deem that you're ready for an upgrade."

The blond jinchuriki was suddenly reminded of Lee who was, unfortunately, still recovering from the emergency operation Tsunade had administered to him. There was a high chance he could continue being a ninja though, according to the Hokage. "So I can end up becoming super fast like Bushy-brows?"

The bearded man gave Naruto an odd look before slowly nodding. "If he was using weights then yes, you might end up like that. Remember what I said regarding your muscles? Your speed will increase as time goes by and you get used to wearing those weights and your upper body strength will improve as well. You're a scrawny shit right now and I intend on turning you into a respectable ninja."

Naruto quickly strapped on the weights. Roushi formed a ram seal and chuckled in amusement as Naruto crumpled under the stress of the weight. "These... these are ridiculous...! I can't... move!" The blond attempted to push himself off the ground, but failed miserably.

"You want to be strong, don't you? Get up," Roushi ordered. His tone left no room for argument. Naruto grit his teeth and forced himself to stand. He succeeded this time and unsteadily got to his feet. "Now, you and I are going to fight. Taijutsu only."

"What?!" Naruto screamed, his jaw wide open. "Like this?! I can barely even move!"

"Tough," Roushi rumbled. He moved forward and punched Naruto in the stomach. He could tell the blond was trying to avoid the attack, but the weights got in the way. Roushi aimed for the stomach and ribs rather than the groin and face. "Keep your legs farther apart and bend your knees. Make sure you aren't leaning too far forward or too far back."

Naruto wavered from Roushi's jabs, but maintained the stance. "Keep your arms up and don't overextend your punches." A sharp punch clipped Naruto's side. "Don't cock your fists. I can see your attack coming from a mile away."

The blond was beginning to sweat. He wasn't getting too tired, but his muscles were beginning to burn. In addition, his body was hurting from the attacks Roushi was landing. The man didn't maim Naruto, but his punches weren't pulled like when Naruto fought Sasuke, or on the rare occurrence when he fought Kakashi.

There was a crack as Roushi's fist made contact with Naruto's arms. He had raised both his arms to serve as a cross-guard against Roushi's attacks, but the man had put much more power into it than Naruto had thought.

Nonetheless, the blond did not groan in pain. He clenched his teeth and tried to use his footwork to avoid the attacks. After ducking and sidestepping a slow series of punches, Roushi swept Naruto's legs out from under him.

"Blocking is easier than evading, but sometimes evading may be more useful than blocking. An enemy who is monstrously powerful but slow makes for good evasion practice." Roushi put his hands on Naruto's forearms. A brief, warm sensation ran over Naruto's forearms, rendering them as good as new.

"You know medical jutsu?" Naruto said after a moment of regaining his breath.

"No. I just brought out some of the Kyuubi's chakra to heal you."

"How?"

Roushi grinned thinly. "I had a lot of practice when I was younger. That's not what we're here for, though. Stand up, brat. No rest for the weary on my watch." Naruto loudly groaned and got back to his feet. "Keep in mind what I told you before."

And then Roushi sprang forward again, causing Naruto to dance back and forth in a frantic attempt to evade the man's crushing attacks.

* * *

**-Mission Room-**

Tsunade watched as the last working chunin, one Umino Iruka, left the room. Pretty soon, Jiraiya would be gathering the ninja Naruto had worked closely with. Namely, the ones he had grown up with in the academy.

She was slightly worried about the boy, especially since he walked in earlier looking like he was the walking dead. Naruto had been covered in dirt, but had no bruises. Whatever Roushi was doing looked to be much harsher than what Kakashi had done.

Yugito and Gaara had both looked cleaner than Naruto, but both of them were also somewhat tired. Regardless of how tired they were from training, they picked up a simple D-rank mission and left. Roushi apparently made sure they quickly completed the mission and that no mishaps had happened.

The clacking of Jiraiya's footsteps alerted her to where he was. If he wanted to be silent he wouldn't have been so loud, so he was probably leading Naruto and the others to the room.

Sure enough, the door opened and Jiraiya majestically strove in. He was frowning and was followed by a Naruto that looked much more alert and much cleaner than before. "See? He's not defending himself anymore. The man _is_ a pervert," Naruto declared.

Two other jinchuriki walked in along with a Roushi that didn't look too pleased to be there. "We get it, Naruto. Every elite ninja has their eccentricities."

"You're not going to call him out on it?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

Roushi snorted. "No. After a few decades, every ninja needs some kind of coping mechanism."

Naruto grumbled to himself as a faint proclamation of "YOUTH" reached everyone's ears. Maito Gai, carrying Rock Lee and his crutches, burst through the opened door, with a panting Tenten and an exasperated Neji right behind them. "Yosh! We are the first team here!" Gai boomed.

"Gai-sensei, does this mean we get to do one-hundred pushups with only our thumbs?"

"No, Lee... it means that we get to do five-hundred pushups with only our thumbs! And Tenten-chan and Neji-kun get to join us!"

"Case in point," Roushi muttered. Gaara cocked his head at his once-adversary. Wasn't he still recovering...?

"Yeah, but Bushy-brows and Gai-sensei are already crazy," Naruto pointed out.

Tenten's eyes lit up as she saw Tsunade, causing Neji to sigh dramatically. It looked like he would be the sane one this time around. "Hokage-sama, exactly why has Jiraiya-sama called us here?" he asked.

"Yeah, I was never in an academy class with them," Naruto added.

Gaara closed his eyes. "It is because of me. I did nearly kill Rock Lee during the chunin exams."

"That is no problem at all, my most youthful Suna-nin! Hokage-sama's emergency surgical procedure has put me in much better shape than before!"

The Suna jinchuriki stared in surprise at Lee. "You... you aren't angry at me?"

"Of course we're not!" Gai exuberantly stated. "We're-"

"Gai," Tsunade exasperatedly interrupted, "Please let me explain that when the time is right."

Gai bowed apologetically. Naruto grinned widely. "See? If Bushy-brows and Gai-sensei can forgive you, Suna can too. Cool, eh?"

"Yes... cool," Gaara replied. It was an odd feeling to be forgiven for crippling someone. He hadn't felt guilty about attacking Lee, but now he felt oddly content about the whole thing. Not detached, but content. It was all very strange to him.

Further discussion was halted when a loud groan signaled the entrance of Team Ten. Shikamaru was being dragged Ino, with Chouji and Sarutobi Asuma behind them. "Tch, why did we have to be dragged here. I wanted to get a head start on sleeping, you troublesome girl."

"You're a chunin! You don't get to sleep in anymore! Now stop being so lazy!" Ino screeched. She quickly turned around and bowed to everyone. "Sorry, sorry! Shika is too lazy for his good."

Tsunade snorted and Jiraiya snickered. The Nara had been very vocal about _not_ being a chunin. It was enough to make his mother walk up to Tsunade, snatch the vest from her hands, and force it on Shikamaru.

Asuma walked up to a wall and leaned on it. He was slightly irritable since Tsunade had made it clear that no cigarettes were allowed in the room. At least it would make him look better in Kurenai's eyes.

In between bites of chips, Chouji inquired why everyone was gathered in the room. He had already eyed Gaara distrustfully, but didn't know what to think about the other blonde girl in the room. That blonde girl was pointedly looking away from everyone else.

"Why don't you all wait?" Roushi rumbled. Although he had spoken before, his now-commanding voice drew complete attention to him. The Konoha genin plus one chunin all tensed at the sight of an Iwagakure ninja. "Relax, punks. I'm not going to attack you or anything like that."

The genin weren't convinced. They waited as Team Eight ambled in, with Kiba giving everyone a boisterous greeting. Kurenai took a position next to Asuma and Hinata and Shino uttered quiet greetings.

After an additional fifteen minutes, what remained of Team Seven finally walked in. Naruto was completely amazed. "Kakashi-sensei... you're only... fifteen minutes late?" he squawked.

Kakashi put his pornography away and, after giving Jiraiya a look of admiration, turned to his once-pupil with an eye-smile. "I don't think I'm late, Naruto. Maybe you were all too early?"

"Why were we brought here?" Sasuke bluntly asked. He wasn't too happy at being dragged away from training and into some silly meeting with all of the mess ups and rejects from his academy class.

"Well," Tsunade drawled, "Since everyone significant is here and the others have already been notified... I guess we can begin. The younger generation is always susceptible to propaganda."

"The other jounin," Jiraiya began, "have been told of what has happened and have told their genin, if they have any, about it. The chunin force, except for young Nara Shikamaru here, have also been notified."

There was a loud groan. "Why was I not notified?" Shikamaru asked.

"We thought it'd be funnier if we dragged your lazy ass here," Asuma said with a crooked grin. Shikamaru shot him a death glare but remained silent.

The jounin were all casually leaning in the back. The genin, as well as one chunin were all assembled in a semi-circle around Tsunade's desk. Jiraiya and Roushi were on either side of Tsunade.

"Does this have something to do with why Naruto isn't on Team Seven anymore?" Sakura timidly asked. She wasn't usually a timid girl, but the presence of an imposing Iwa-nin made her nervous. Supposedly, Iwa-nin all hated Konoha-nin. Although, the Hokage did say something about propaganda.

"Smart girl," Tsunade said, watching everyone glance confusedly at a somewhat cheery Naruto. "As of recently, due to certain factors, Konoha has entered into an alliance with Sunagakure and Kumogakure."

The youngsters were silent for a few moments. "I think the brats took it better than you all thought," Roushi commented.

"Wait for it," Kakashi lazily muttered.

"What's he doing here?" Ino asked.

"He's from Iwagakure," Shikamaru noted. "They can't possibly be in on this, can they?"

"Nope, I'm a special case," Roushi said. "I was brought in by the hermit over there due to circumstance. The team I'm in charge of is a direct result of the alliance. It's to make sure nothing bad happens."

Neji's milky white eyes widened. "If that's true, then that girl over there must be from Kumo."

Tsunade nodded sharply. "Gaara of the Sand, as I'm sure you've all recognized him, is from Suna. Nii Yugito is from Kumo, and our very own Uzumaki Naruto is from here. Together, they comprise a team that represents the alliance between Konoha, Suna, and Kumo."

"And I, Roushi, am heading the team," Roushi added.

"So... what happens to Team Seven?" Sakura asked.

"Ah, don't worry about Team Seven," Kakashi cheerfully said with an eye-smile. "Since Lee-kun is still recovering, you'll be paired up with these other teams during missions. That is, if you want to."

"And you're all okay with this?" Neji exclaimed. He sent a withering glare towards Yugito, who was still not looking in their direction.

"You are not to do anything impulsive," Jiraiya warningly said. "Roushi here has complete jurisdiction over his team and their actions. He also has permission to defend himself if attacked. Just so you all know, he's an S-rank ninja and completely capable of killing you without thinking."

Neji closed his eyes and nodded sharply. His father had chosen his own death in defiance of fate and the Kumo ambassador, a jounin of great skill, had been killed. It ended up being an eye for an eye, but Konoha had come out on top after the fiasco.

He would never say so, but Neji was more concerned about his cousin. She had been the victim of that traumatizing event. He had no idea as to how she would react. At least the Kumo-nin was around their age.

"Can we go now?" Sasuke asked.

"I agree with Sasuke," Shikamaru said, yawning. "I'm tired. I want to go home and sleep."

"Wait a moment," Kiba interrupted. "Are we still going to see you, Naruto? You're leaving the village and going out on some useless harebrained trip, are you?"

"Hell no," Naruto replied, slightly baffled at Kiba's exclamation, "We're being trained here, in Konoha."

Hinata sighed in relief, but only the jounin and the other higher-level ninja noticed it, Roushi nearly rolled his eyes. He could do without the teenage romantic drama.

Actually, it would probably never happen. Jinchuriki were usually emotionally stunted and would never recognize such things. That was the excuse, though. It was much more likely that some of them were too hard-headed to recognize infatuation.

"That doesn't sound fair.", Chouji said. He swallowed the chips in his mouth, "I mean, what about Kakashi-sensei? Aren't you angry that your student is being taken away?"

"Well, I won't have much time to teach him anything right now. I'm running missions for Konoha," Kakashi explained. He rubbed his head sheepishly. "I don't think I'm a good sensei, anyway. Naruto will probably benefit more under Roushi-san than me."

Sasuke's jaw dropped. The _dobe_ of them all was receiving training underneath a – rather shady – S-rank ninja while his own sensei couldn't even help him. What was with this preferential treatment?

First, Naruto ended up getting the legendary Jiraiya to teach him during the chunin exams. Then he had managed to befriend another one, and now he had a ninja with no mission restraints teaching him, Even Naruto's new teammates were more useful than any of the other genin!

Gaara of the Sand was a powerful opponent who had nearly killed them all and now he was a powerful ally. The other girl, Nii Yugito, didn't look like an annoying fangirl at all, Kumo was known for its powerful ninja due to its militant outlook too.

Sasuke needed power to avenge his clan! Why did Naruto, who just wanted to be the damned Hokage, have to get all of that? What reason could there possibly be for that to happen? Why was the blond idiot even picked for a team that was meant to represent a village alliance? Why was he so special?!

He clenched his fists and turned on his heel, rushing to exit the room so that he could use his anger to fuel some additional training. It was better to be productive than to simply stew like a sore loser.

Sakura and Ino worriedly watched as Sasuke stormed out, Kakashi looked up at the ceiling and sighed, "I guess I'll go speak to him."

"Don't say anything formal just yet.", Roushi warned, "I want them all to have a decent grasp before anything is shown off."

Kakashi shrugged and vanished in a body flicker.

Sakura frowned. Sasuke was acting stranger and stranger lately. He had been warming up to them all right before the chunin exams, but after Orochimaru intervened, he became colder. After Itachi attacked, his attitude became worse.

It hurt her to see him like that.

"I blinked and missed it," Kiba joked, "So, all we're finding out is that we're in an alliance?"

"That, and you're not allowed to harm any of them. Not that you could.", Jiraiya said. Kiba scowled at the man before muttering curses under his breath, Shino whacked him in the back of the head.

Shino: "Be respectful, Kiba."

Kiba muttered some more to himself before leavin,. Shino and Hinata paused before following him out, Kurenai bowed to the Hokage before leaving as well.

"So that's our cue? Here's to you, Naruto. Good luck on your training; you all will need it.", Asuma said. He left the room with a slouching Shikamaru, a chomping Chouji, and an intrigued Ino.

"I hope your flames of youth burn brightly!", Gai said. "Come, you three! It's time for another evening spar session!", Team Gai, with the exception of Lee, groaned and left, Neji cast one last glance at Yugito before leaving the room.

Sakura, the jinchuriki, Tsunade, and Jiraiya remained in the room. "I assume you all want to sleep as well, right?", Roushi said, "Except for you, Gaara. You and I are going to have a talk."

Gaara: "Is it about what we spoke about in the forest?"

"Yes. The hermit and I can help you, and Pakura has given us permission, but I want your permission first."

Gaara was silent. "Yes," was his response. Being able to sleep... that would've been a dream come true, had he actually been able to dream.

Jiraiya grinned widely, "Excellent. I always enjoy a challenge.", He vanished in a poof of smoke that was vaguely reminiscent of a certain white-haired jounin.

Roushi dismissed his students, being sure to tell them not to slack off, but took Gaara's shoulder and led him out of the room. Naruto's stomach suddenly rumbled, "Hey, Sakura-chan, Yugito, do you guys want to go and get some ramen?"

"Ramen isn't healthy.", Yugito smoothy replied. "But I will humor you. That's what teammates do.", Naruto beamed and gave Sakura an expectant look.

"Sorry Naruto, but I want to ask Hokage-sama something. Maybe some other time, if that's all right.", Naruto pouted, left the room with Yugito in tow. Even though he was wearing weights, Naruto's movements were more fluid and at ease than they had been earlier.

Sakura looked back at Tsunade. "Hokage-sama, does this have anything to do with what Gaara did a month ago?"

Tsunade sighed to herself. "I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific than that. I won't reveal anything without their permission."

Sakura wanted to say something about Gaara nearly killing her team, but held her tongue. She had heard Gaara did something monstrously insane, but Naruto stopped him. "Never mind, Hokage-sama." Sakura bowed and left, slightly troubling thoughts on her mind.

Tsunade watched her leave. Someday, she would have to reveal the true purpose of the team. The jounin already knew, but Shikamaru and the two Hyuuga could figure it out on their own.

The main problem was actually revealing what Naruto, Gaara, Yugito, and Roushi were. Gaara and Yugito, as well as Roushi, would all be indifferent. In Kumo, jinchuriki were treated much better than anywhere else.

Everyone in Suna had known that Gaara was a jinchuriki and the result was a killing machine that had no remorse. The boy was changing, but slowly. He was fixing his past image and attempting to make new bonds.

None of Naruto's friends knew he was a jinchuriki. He was most afraid of losing his friends should his secret be revealed. The other jinchuriki... not so much.

The Hokage rubbed her forehead. It would have to be done eventually, but she hoped Naruto would find the time to do it himself before Akatsuki or anything horrendous happened.

Blinking, she knocked on her wooden desk.

**To be Continued...**

* * *

******AN:** And that's end of that chapter! P**lease R&R and don't forget check out me and ****Etc Flip**'s other fanfic's!** Peace!**  



	3. Weak Link

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or it's character's in any way, shape or form.**

**AN: While the idea was mine, I did not write this alone, this story is being co-written with "Etc Flip".**

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**Chapter 3: Weak link  
**

**-Ichiraku Ramen Stand-**

Naruto's favorite ramen stand was the greatest place ever to talk. Ayame and old man Teuchi never held any animosity towards Naruto.

The two also knew of Naruto's secret and had been told about the others, so the boy could speak freely with and about his new team. Of course, the team still had to be cautious, but as long as no one dropped in on them while they were discussing certain things, then they would be fine.

The three young jinchuriki were about to eat their lunch. Naruto had been forced by Roushi to adopt acceptable manners, much to the Kyuubi jinchuriki's ire. Since eating slowly did not require all of his focus – or much of it at all – Naruto decided to strike up a conversation with his comrades.

"So," Naruto began after swallowing a mouthful of noodles, "I'm kind of curious as to how you guys were treated back in your villages. I mean, I know a bit of how Gaara was treated, but what about you, Yugito?"

Yugito slowly turned her head to face Naruto. "Since you brought up the topic, why don't you begin?" It wasn't really politeness that made her say that. Like any competent ninja, she was looking for information.

Ayame and Teuchi exchanged glances, each paying close attention to the conversation. "Well," Naruto said, scratching his head, "I wasn't really treated nicely. People liked to think of me like I was nothing or that I was something to be scrubbed off their shoe. I ended being completely ignored by everyone.

"Many kids treated me like dirt and their parents weren't much better. Now that I think about it, their parents probably made them do that." Naruto scowled slightly. "I didn't even know why until right before I graduated from the academy, after one of my teachers tried to betray the village and kill me. It's how I learned I was the Kyuubi's jinchuriki."

Naruto sighed. "Even the ninja I graduated with just see me as a goofball or a joke. It's been slowly changing ever since the Chunin Exams, especially with people who believe in me like Iruka-sensei, Ero-sennin, and Tsunade-baachan. Even Sasuke, the genius of my old class, acknowledges me as a rival."

The boy smiled and the entire ramen stand brightened. "Protecting the people of the village and my bonds with my friends will make people see me as a person instead of just some _thing_. Sure, there are still some people who think I'm an idiot, but they'll come around eventually. Soon enough, everyone will see me as Uzumaki Naruto, one of the best ninja of this village."

Yugito returned her attention to her bowl of ramen after witnessing Naruto throw his fist out in the air. After staring at it for a few seconds, she decided to reply. Gaara certainly wasn't going to. "You wish for the people of Konoha to see you as a person rather than a jinchuriki?"

Naruto affirmatively nodded. "I'm more than just a container."

"That's... foolish. I will reassert what I said before," Yugito replied. Naruto glared at her, anger beginning to bubble within him. He hadn't forgotten what she had first said to him. Without looking at him, she began speaking again. "Your upbringing was different than mine. While you were not explicitly raised as a weapon like you were supposed to, I was."

"Look, just because we're jinchuriki doesn't mean we're simple weapons," Naruto argued. "We're more than just tools to be used."

"Do you know why jinchuriki exist?" Yugito asked. She didn't wait for anyone to answer. "We exist as an aversion to war. The Tailed Beasts are all powerful enough to destroy a village in a matter of hours, if not minutes. They are sealed into us so that we can harness that power. The threat of complete annihilation causes great fear."

"Shukaku has nearly caused the destruction of Sunagakure several times in the history of my home," Gaara stoically added.

"That doesn't mean we're not people with hopes, dreams, and aspirations," Naruto heatedly commented.

"On the contrary," Yugito drawled, "the fact that we're capable of unleashing immense destruction means that we can't be anything but weapons. Any ninja village would be ecstatic to have such a powerful tool in their possession. Why waste that power doing something counter-intuitive?"

Although Naruto's glare had lessened, his anger was still beginning to rise. He couldn't do anything rash in a ramen stand though. Roushi would likely subject him to a ridiculous training session filled with the wondrous sensation known as pain if he attacked his teammate.

He still wanted to. The urge to deck her, regardless of her gender, was overwhelming. The first time she had said that jinchuriki were mere weapons made him irritated, but he figured she wouldn't bring it up again.

Now, it felt like she was spitting on his dreams and his beliefs. He would prove her wrong. He had proven Gaara wrong and he would prove her wrong as well. Jinchuriki were more than just tools; they were people too.

He ignored the traitorous part of his mind that insisted that everyone he knew was there simply to ensure his loyalty as a jinchuriki.

Slamming some money on the counter, Naruto stood up quickly enough to send his stool crashing to the ground. "I'll prove you wrong on that," he spat. "My way of the ninja doesn't see everyone as a tool to be used and thrown away when broken. What a terrible way to think."

Naruto left, heading towards the Hokage Monument where he could cool down. Emotional control was necessary and he needed to restrain himself.

Yugito did not watch him go. The idea of a jinchuriki being anything but a loyal servant to the village was astounding to her. She had been raised ever since she was extremely young as a ninja, completely subservient to Kumo.

Civilians smiled at her. Ninja of both genders respected her. She made her village proud and served like she was supposed to. Why that was so difficult for Naruto to grasp was beyond her.

"Being treated like a weapon was not pleasant," Gaara stated in a soft voice. "Like Naruto, I was isolated when I was younger, if for slightly different reasons. He helped me turn a new leaf and reconnect with my siblings."

Gaara paused and stood up after placing some money on the table and murmuring his thanks. "We are understandably different, yet the same. My _father_-" Gaara said the term with disgust, "-attempted to throw me away for being a failed weapon. However, Naruto's actions gave me a chance to live as a person, not as a weapon.

"Speaking with people not as a feared weapon or as a monster, but as a human being is a satisfying thing." Again, the redhead paused for dramatic effect and gave Yugito what could be construed as a critical look. "You may have been raised in a friendlier environment than us, but I do not think you have been raised as a _person_."

Gaara hadn't been raised as a person either, but even he could tell that Yugito had been raised only as a ninja and not as a person. She hadn't been completely isolated in the ninja arts, but emotionally she wasn't quite so well-adjusted.

The Kumo kunoichi watched as Gaara left in a swirl of sand. Ayame was giving her a dark look, but Yugito paid the waitress no mind.

Naruto had his own way of the ninja, or so she assumed. It was naïve in a way, but she could tell Naruto was vehement in his beliefs. In fact, from the information she had been given, Gaara had been converted by sheer willpower on Naruto's part.

The Suna-nin's declaration hadn't startled her. She knew that all jinchuriki had some sort of issue regarding their development. Naruto and Gaara were both socially inept. While she wasn't quite like that, it was obvious that she was somewhat emotionally stunted.

That hadn't been the Raikage's desire, but it was a side-effect of the intense training she had been subjected to. She had focused too much time on completing whatever mission she was assigned in order to bring her home more glory and power.

Yugito rose up from her stool, righted Naruto's, and left the ramen stand after putting some money down.

She still believed that jinchuriki were meant to be weapons for their respective village. That was the entire point of having a being of mass destruction sealed within a ninja capable of harnessing its ridiculous amount of power.

She didn't believe in childish ideologies. Why would you believe in something that was completely opposite of what the ninja villages had been doing ever since they were created?

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**-Fire Country Border-**

Roushi was somewhat annoyed. Actually, scratch that; he was very, very annoyed. He was annoyed most of the time anyway. Life just had a way of making him incredibly irritated. He was only truly happy when he was gambling his worries away, with anything ninja related miles away from his thoughts.

That was a horrible thing to feel happy about. At least he had a partial obligation to the brats he was teaching, different as they all were.

Damned Akatsuki, ruining his drinking and gambling binges.

He was getting off-topic, though. Sometimes his thoughts would stray. No need to become mired in them, however.

No, Roushi was annoyed because when he gathered his team to do some C-rank mission away from prying eyes, he found that one of the ninja was very angry at the other. The other two were rather indifferent, but a closer look at Gaara made him realize that the boy was slightly miffed as well.

That was absolutely unacceptable. Fighting was a lot more difficult when there were other things pressing on your mind and that went double for jinchuriki.

"So, care to tell me what happened? Don't hold back; all of you are absolutely horrible at hiding your thoughts." Roushi smirked at the surprised expressions his students had.

Odd as it was, nights out of an overbearing ninja village could be very helpful in making people open up. Roushi and his jinchuriki pupils were going to ambush a troupe of bandits led by some missing-nin that had been harassing trade caravans near the Fire Country borders.

It was simple, quick, and an easy way to get money. Of course, his students didn't know the group of bandits were being led by a missing-nin. If that was publicly known, then the mission would be classified as a B-rank.

No, the bandits were just for Roushi to see how good of a teacher he was. The missing-nin was meant for teamwork. That would be crucial, especially since the team seemed rather disconnected when he called them together for a mission.

"It's nothing," Naruto murmured, his tone clearly indicating otherwise.

Roushi shifted on the branch he was standing on. "It's definitely not nothing," he observed. "You're the most outspoken of us all and yet you've been quiet ever since we left for our mission. You and Gaara aren't speaking to Yugito either, even if she isn't trying to start up a conversation."

"It's because I have to be serious now that we're on a mission?" Naruto offered. He winced at his sensei's piercing glare. Even Naruto knew that his excuse sucked.

"There was a disagreement on our beliefs," Gaara informed. He was smart enough to think rationally and attempt to remove any lingering issues. It was better not to be divided, especially since they were all targets of high-level ninja.

The Iwa-nin grumbled to himself. Disagreements were foreseen, but he didn't want to deal with them. "Let me take a wild guess, brats. You all believe different things, all of which are related to how you were treated as jinchuriki?"

Their silence was answer enough.

Roushi sighed. "Look, I'm not going to vouch for any of your beliefs, whatever they are. Every ninja can believe whatever the hell they want. Why do you think missing-nin exist? Their beliefs were so different to everyone else's that they left their village to pursue their own ideals!

"However, you should know that these beliefs and opinions aren't permanent. The human mind can change if it's presented with a persuasive argument. That doesn't mean you should flaunt what you believe in like you think it's right and like your way is the only way."

Roushi suddenly fell silent as a group of people appeared below them. They were trying to be silent, but were failing miserably. The Yonbi jinchuriki gave his students a hard look. "I never expected you all to get along, or for you all to be exactly the same, but for the sake of your future survival, I expect you all to work through your differences."

The three younger jinchuriki realized Roushi was right. Regardless of what they believed in, their future was at stake and they needed to prepare for it. Akatsuki wasn't likely to debate philosophical ideas with them.

There would still be animosity between some of them. Not all issues were quickly solved, but they could at least put their differences aside for the moment.

A series of glances were exchanged and the three jinchuriki turned to their master, waiting for his signal. After a few tense seconds, Roushi let them go.

Silently, sand slithered down the trunk of the tree to bind and gag the bandits hanging around at the back of the group. Two shadow clones appeared next to Naruto and they took out some kunai before stealthily dropping down and slitting the throats of the unsuspecting men.

The ones in the front were alerted by the strangled gasp of Naruto's victims. They turned around and called out for help just as Yugito leapt forward.

In the darkness, a ninja jumped out and kicked Yugito away. She couldn't change direction in midair and was forced to take the attack.

The kick hit her right side, but she wasn't harmed very much. Her ribs were likely bruised, but not cracked or broken. She landed on her feet in a crouch, her eyes narrowed and eying the newcomer. Yugito could see him clearly despite the darkness that blanketed the forested area.

"I was waiting for you all to show up," the missing-nin said. His voice was like honey and was dripping with false sweetness. "My, but you three were hiding quite well. Why did you attack my little troupe here? They haven't done anything to you, have they?"

The darkness thankfully obscured their forehead protectors. "We have accepted a mission to put these bandits out of commission. There wasn't anything mentioned about Hekishin of the Hidden Mist," Yugito stated.

Hekishin of the Hidden Mist had pale blond hair, nearly white skin, and dark brown eyes that seemed to be glowing in mirth. He was nearly topless, with only a jounin flak-jacket covering his thin chest and sides. Black shinobi pants covered his legs and he was wearing blue ninja sandals. Wrapped around his thin, reedy neck was a slashed Kirigakure forehead protector.

In both of his gloved hands were swords with extremely thin blades. Their hilts were only marginally thicker than the blades themselves. How he carried them around was unknown since he apparently did not have a sheath or two on his person.

"Who _is_ this guy?" Naruto quietly asked, warily approaching nearby. Gaara remained up in the branches of the tree despite his location being known. He was seeding the area with his controllable sand.

"Jounin-level missing-nin from Kirigakure," Yugito lowly replied. "He's an adept swordsman, especially in the art of dual-wielding blades. He isn't a member of the Seven Swordsman, though."

Hekishin laughed throatily. "I see someone's been reading up on their Bingo Book entries!" he said in a song-song manner. "Regardless, I will be killing you all. Sweet little genin shouldn't attempt missions on their own without having all of the information, especially when they disrupt such a smooth-running operation like the one I had going."

Up in the trees above, Roushi smirked. Overconfidence and arrogance was the downfall of many a ninja, and it seemed like this one would be no different. He hadn't checked for any other presences in the area, immediately becoming relaxed once he realized there were only three _possibly_ genin-level ninja in the vicinity.

Too bad jinchuriki weren't meant to be ranked by traditional means.

The darkness was an issue, but Gaara's sand reacted even if its controller couldn't see the attack. The Nibi had granted Yugito with the interesting ability of seeing in the dark, meaning that she wouldn't be in too much trouble.

Naruto, though... well, Roushi hoped that the boy was smart enough to release his weights. The Kyuubi's help in regenerating torn muscle tissue was ridiculously fast, even for a jinchuriki. It allowed the blond to quickly get used to any weights he was wearing, meaning his speed and strength quickly increased as well.

As if Naruto had somehow heard Roushi's thoughts, he made a discreet hand-seal, reducing the weight he had on him to zero. The released tension on Naruto's body was visible to Roushi, who could see regardless of the darkness surrounding him.

Roushi was just that great of a ninja. It was also why the missing-nin couldn't feel his presence.

"You and these bandits were harming innocent people," Naruto murmured, his eyes becoming hard. Rather than charge forward, Naruto reached into his shuriken pouch and threw a brace of the metal stars. Hekishin simply swayed out of the way before laughing eerily.

"Please, people like that should be _happy_ I took their lives and money. They're nothing but mongrels who feed on the poor!" he wholeheartedly exclaimed.

Naruto scowled at the man. Sure, some people were like that – Gato directly came to mind – but others worked hard for their achievements and for their businesses. Bunching everyone up in one category was just an excuse for Hekishin to do whatever crap he wanted.

Further thought was cut off as Hekishin sprinted forward. His speed wasn't as great as Roushi's, but it was still enough to outdo Naruto. Despite his disadvantages, Naruto was much shorter than the missing-nin and could duck and evade the frantic, piercing jabs the man was employing.

A large, blue fireball was exhaled by Yugito. It briefly lit up the area, giving both Naruto and their enemy night blindness. However, Hekishin knew how to fight blind. He quickly sped through hand-seals and created a shield of water that absorbed the fireball.

"You're all annoying. Charming, but annoying," the man remarked. He backpedaled as he heard the sound of rushing sand. Much like Sasuke and Lee, he was quick enough to evade Gaara's attacks.

Yugito glanced at Naruto. "Do you have a way to catch him? He's faster than us."

"Where's Roushi?" Naruto asked. He shook his head when his teammates didn't answer. The guy was probably wanting his students would take down the missing-nin on their own. "Never mind, I have an idea." Naruto signaled for Gaara to drop down. He quickly told his fellow jinchuriki his plans while their enemy was evading large swathes of sand.

Yugito was dubious, but Gaara accepted the plan without any hesitation, much to Naruto's surprise. If they were lucky, they could catch the missing-nin off-guard and end his stint as a bandit leader.

"You are aware that this will place you in danger, correct?" Yugito asked, staring at Naruto. His scheme was rather crazy and she didn't really want him to get hurt. Regardless of their previous behavior, they were all still jinchuriki.

Naruto smirked at her. "Don't worry about me. I'm much more durable than I look," he stated. Naruto glanced at the nearby trees before pushing his speed to its new limits and rushing forward as Yugito and Gaara broke away.

Hekishin wasn't completely unprepared for the assault, but was unable to really split his attention between a new enemy and the amount of sand that was still following him. Hekishin ended up getting hit with a punch that knocked the air out of his lungs.

Naruto let out a startled yelp as his enemy ferociously snap-kicked him away. "You little brat! You can't just punch someone like me," he wheezed. "Why can't you just slide back a bit and get stabbed by my little babies here?"

The thin blades glinted as if they were responding to their master's words. Of course, they weren't truly alive – it was probably a trick of the moonlight that made them do so.

Two shadow clones leapt down from the branches. They hadn't ever been dispelled even after killing the few remaining bandits that had attempted to get away from the area. Both of the clones didn't escape Hekishin's notice and the missing-nin twisted his body in an odd dance that moved him away from the clones.

One of his blades lashed out, piercing one of the clones in its heart. Its face contorted in pain before it vanished in a puff of smoke. Hekishin turned around to finish off the remaining clone, only to find a close Nibi jinchuriki with crackling, elongated nails ready to gut him.

Yugito was much more adept at combat than Naruto's clones were. She was able to take advantage of Hekishin's confusion and evade his initial piercing lunge and stab him with her electrified nails. Unfortunately, he turned into water upon successful injury.

"Replacing one of the clones with your own self at such a point where I couldn't stab or kick you away? Color me impressed," Hekishin said, his voice echoing throughout the area. "Whoever your sensei is must have great confidence in you all..."

"He's more of a psychopath than that," Naruto cheekily replied. He had to keep the guy distracted.

Nearby, One of Roushi's eyebrows twitched. Who the hell did Naruto think he was?

"Regardless, I'm going to kill you all now. It's been fun, but I really have places to go and things to do," Hekishin said, his voice again echoing so that his enemies couldn't get a lock on his location.

"I fought Zabuza, the Demon of the Hidden Mist on my first C-rank," Naruto suddenly commented. "If he couldn't kill a bunch of genin fresh out of the academy, how do you think you'll fare? You're not even a part of the Seven Swordsman of the Hidden Mist!"

Hekishin didn't respond, but the jinchuriki in the area all knew that Naruto had hit something sensitive. Naruto had already told his own team about his encounter with Zabuza, which was why they weren't surprised about the claim.

"I highly doubt that your team was the one that killed him all those months ago," Hekishin angrily replied. His voice didn't echo.

Naruto shrugged. "He was hired by a man named Gato who tried to betray him. Zabuza killed Gato and then died from his injuries. He tried to kill my team _twice_ and still failed! We were protecting some random guy who wasn't even a ninja or anything, too!"

"You're lying-" The missing-nin was cut off as sand wrapped around his body, forcing his arms and fingers apart and preventing him from escaping. The sand carried him out of his hiding spot and into the view of the genin.

"I'm surprised that worked," Gaara stated. He tilted his head at the glaring Kirigakure missing-nin, whose mouth was bound. The swords had liberally been removed by the sand as well.

"Hey, Roushi! Can you get your ass down here now?" Naruto called. He waited for a few seconds, but no response came.

Yugito's eyes widened. "The battle's not over!" she hissed. Her teammates never heard her. In fact, her teammates were no longer near her to begin with. She had been ensnared by a genjutsu.

The sand around Hekishin's body cracked and fell away. "Did you really think you could capture me, you brats? My true power lies within genjutsu. It's just easier to stab people when they're locked in one!" he crowed.

Yugito attempted to move, but her body was locked in place. Her muscles were convulsing slightly, giving her the painful feeling of having been attacked by an electrical jutsu. She tried to break the illusion, but it was more powerful than it seemed at first glance.

The other two jinchuriki were experiencing different illusions. Gaara had quite an interesting one: he was wrapped up in his own sand. It was... amusing to watch his sand attempt to crush him and fail miserably. Even in a false reality his sand refused to turn against him. He couldn't break the illusion either, however.

Naruto's illusion was a more generic one that preyed upon people's fears. He saw his friends, the people of Konoha, and even Jiraiya all condemn him. They all told him that he was a monster and someone that would be best used as a disposable tool.

They said that he was useless as a ninja. They said that he would never amount to anything. They told him that his dream to be Hokage was pointless and that he would never command the respect of anyone.

Naruto grit his teeth at the onslaught of negative comments. He had withstood them before and he would definitely withstand them again.

"Aren't you the resilient one? Your little stupid buddies are already dead, but I'm surprised you haven't given up yet," a silky voice tauntingly said. Right before Naruto's eyes, Hekishin rose up from the illusion-Konoha's soil. "And you're one of those little Leaf shits that think that they're all that."

"You can't have killed Yugito and Gaara! They wouldn't die to the likes of you!" Naruto cried, not quite thinking clearly anymore.

"They tried to leave you, you know," Hekishin said with a sly smile. "Tried to get away from someone like _you_." He didn't know that Naruto was a jinchuriki. Fear of isolation was just more common than people thought. "Really, they died because of you. Your fellow ninja all died because of your choices in this mission."

"No! Sensei-"

"A teacher? I haven't seen any _teacher_ of yours," Hekishin continued. Naruto tried to run forward, tried to strangle his enemy, but found he was bound to some sort of upright plank by copious amounts of thick rope.

Villagers appeared around him, all of them glaring hatefully at Naruto. The missing-nin laughed cruelly. "I'm guessing he abandoned you too. You're so useless and naïve. This is what you get, though..."

Each Konoha ninja suddenly had torches in their hands. Without any remorse or regret, they threw the burning wood at Naruto.

Naruto screamed at the terrible agony of being burned alive. He screamed loud. No one would abandon him! No one! It was all a lie! It was all a lie, damn it! "I'll kill you!" the blond screamed. "I'll kill you for killing them!"

All rational thoughts fled Naruto's mind and the surge of Tailed Beast chakra replaced it. The illusion was shattered, but Naruto ignored the two presences at his sides. His fellow jinchuriki began to stir as Naruto's chakra shattered their own illusions.

"How-"

Hekishin never finished his statement. Naruto delivered a powerful haymaker punch to the man's face, breaking his nose and sending him flying back. Before Hekishin could right himself, Naruto appeared above him, his eyes blazing red. "You won't get away! I'll destroy you myself!"

The missing-nin was shuddering. The disgusting chakra the boy was emitting was making him sick to his stomach and the Killing Intent, while not anything too powerful, wasn't anything to scoff at either. Hekishin couldn't bring himself to stop Naruto.

With fists fueled by the Kyuubi's power, Naruto rained down blow after blow on his enemy. The man's arms snapped from the force of the attacks and soon after, Naruto moved on to his chest.

Dull thumps broke Hekishin's ribs. The pale man coughed out blood and realized that one of his lungs were probably punctured. He wasn't going to live.

Just what kind of genin team had picked a fight with him? In hindsight, he should've been more careful. Their ages shouldn't have made him so relaxed. Uchiha Itachi was one of the most powerful missing-nin ever even at the age of thirteen, after all.

Naruto's claws grabbed Hekishin's neck. With a loud snarl, Naruto ripped the flesh apart, thus ending the missing-nin's life.

The orange aura surrounding Naruto faded and his claws returned to more normal-looking nails. His whisker-marks thinned and emotional restraint took hold once more.

Blue eyes gazed down at bloody hands. The Kyuubi jinchuriki grimaced. Blood didn't bother him since all ninja were used to that kind of thing. What bothered him was how easily he had been ensnared in a genjutsu and how easily he had lost control.

Roushi was going to kill him.

"Impressive." Naruto turned around. "How did you enter your jinchuriki state? Did you ask for help?" Yugito mildly asked.

"No," Naruto shortly replied. "He showed me my greatest fears and I lost control."

"That you did," Roushi rumbled, dropping down from above. The man gave Hekishin's cooling body a kick for good measure. "You were all doing well, but I didn't think he knew genjutsu."

"So you chose this mission in particular so that we would work on our teamwork and work through our issues," Gaara stoically stated, walking up to his team. The sand in the area had returned and reformed his heavy gourd. "Am I correct in assuming that you knew of the missing-nin leading the bandits?"

"True. I wanted to see how much you all improved. Naruto is much faster than before, thankfully-" Roushi ignored Naruto's childish pout, "-Yugito is more trusting of you all, and Gaara is much more mobile than before."

"Are we going to enter missions with all of the information we need from now on?" Naruto dryly asked.

"Not happy about Hekishin's illusions, right? I guess we need to work on breaking genjutsu aside from inflicting pain. That concept is foreign for Gaara and pain will not always work. Jiraiya has told me that Naruto has no talent at all in the field of genjutsu, too."

"Yeah, I can't do genjutsu at all," Naruto said with a shrug. "Besides, we're supposed to be more like ninjutsu-users, right?"

"As jinchuriki, you are," Roushi said. "Some Tailed Beasts can use illusions very well, but generally, our kind does tend to blow things up. We're going off track though."

Roushi paused. "The trap was well done, but you should've broken his arms and fingers before bringing Hekishin to you guys. In fact, killing him right there would've been it. Why didn't you?"

"Bounties are higher when the target is alive," Gaara simply replied. Naruto and Yugito nodded in agreement.

The Yonbi jinchuriki guffawed in amusement. "That's rich. From now on, just kill your enemies. You all don't need extra money with the amount of missions we're going to be doing. I would like to know what Hekishin made you all see when he trapped you in a genjutsu."

"How was he able to do that?" Yugito queried. "His fingers were nowhere near each other."

"Probably a seal-less, wordless technique," Roushi mused. He rubbed his chin and then shrugged. "It doesn't matter since he's dead now, though. So, what did you all see?"

Yugito answered first. "I couldn't move and had electricity coursing through my body." Convulsing muscles were not pleasant to experience.

"My own sand tried to crush me," Gaara stated with a roll of his eyes.

"That probably failed. You remember what we spoke about, correct?" Gaara nodded, causing Roushi's lips to quirk upward. "What about you, Naruto?"

Naruto was silent for a long few seconds. He squirmed under the gazes of his fellow jinchuriki before finally sighing. "He showed me my greatest fear, I think," he said.

"Different illusions used, then. He used a reversal on Gaara, a lock on Yugito since she's much more lithe than you all, and one that brings out your fears. I'm willing to bet he thought you were the leader, Naruto, and that breaking the leader's morale would help break the team apart quicker," Roushi guessed.

"He said that he killed you all," Naruto whispered. Roushi was supposed to be S-rank in terms of strength and the missing-nin wasn't that powerful, but emotional turmoil won over rational thinking. "I... I don't want to lose this."

Yugito and Gaara shifted uncomfortably. "Don't worry, you three," Roushi reassured, not liking having to play this particular role as a sensei at all, "I'll make sure this lasts as long as it can. This probably means more for Naruto and Gaara than it does for you, Yugito."

She started at being spoken to. Yugito was aloof at times, but even Naruto's whisper had plucked her heartstrings – heartstrings she wasn't supposed to have. A sense of belonging was nice. Sure, Kirabi was another jinchuriki like her back in Kumo, but he was much older than she was.

Naruto and Gaara were her age. They could be her true friends without any limitations based on age.

"No, I-" Yugito stopped and bit her lip, unsure of how to reply. They had been fighting earlier and now something like this was happening? It made her feel exhausted.

Roushi grinned and turned around. "We're heading back to Konoha. People like us don't need too much sleep, so let's keep moving. Think of it as... _training._"

They were sure to be closer after this mission. The Iwa-nin hadn't wanted it to get so out of hand, but that was lady luck laughing at him like usual. His students were supposed to fight a sword-oriented missing-nin and succeed due to teamwork.

The jinchuriki were closer now, slightly moreso than he had anticipated. Their arguments earlier were forgotten and they were discussing the visions Naruto was subjected to.

If anything, Roushi's grin threatened to crack his face in half. Yugito and Gaara had some _concern_ in their voices as they spoke with Naruto. Gaara was more reassuring, asserting how prevalent their bonds would become.

Yugito just muttered her thanks at how violent Naruto had acted towards Hekishin when he thought she was killed. Gaara was right – it was definitely a pleasant feeling to have someone act that way towards her. It sure didn't make her feel like a disposable weapon.

Maybe there was more to those beliefs of his than she thought.

The odd coalition of jinchuriki jumped into the treetops, heading back to Konoha...

**To be Continued...**

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******AN:** And that's another chapter down! **Like always, please R&R and don't forget check out me and ****Etc Flip**'s other fanfic's!** Peace!**


	4. A Proper Battle

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or it's character's in any way, shape or form.**

**AN: While the idea was mine, I did not write this alone, this story is being co-written with "Etc Flip".**

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**Chapter 4: A Proper Battle.  
**

**-Forest of Death-**

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" Naruto announced. He inhaled deeply, gathering the necessary chakra to complete his jutsu, and then exhaled.

Rather than a destructive blast of buffeting wind, Naruto merely blew his breath out of his mouth like a normal person would. He furrowed his brow and clenched his teeth in frustration.

From her position, nearby Yugito rolled her eyes. Gaara merely closed his own. "Why can't I get it?" Naruto cried, angry at himself for failing a jutsu tailored towards his chakra nature for the ninth time.

The first few times he accepted the failure because he was learning a new jutsu but now, even after he was following the steps his sensei outlined, Naruto just felt like the dead last everyone thought he was. It was very disappointing to not be able to perform a common wind release technique.

Roushi rubbed his beard. "I'm not sure what you're doing wrong, brat. As far as I can tell, you're performing the jutsu correctly, but it's still not coming out. This is a type of jutsu where overcharging it on chakra results in a more powerful attack, too."

"Perhaps it is the jutsu itself?" Yugito suggested. "Some people simply cannot perform certain techniques. Your body might not be compatible with this particular jutsu."

A hopeful gleam entered Naruto's eye and he turned back to his sensei. Although Roushi was an Iwa-nin, Naruto was confident that the man had more Wind Release techniques than just the Great Breakthrough.

"Well," Roushi drawled, "I'm willing to try and teach you a different wind jutsu, but it's far more difficult than the Great Breakthrough. I'm only able to do it because of experience."

"Could you? Please? Please?" Naruto bounded up to Roushi's face like an excited puppy, much to the Iwa-nin's annoyance.

Roushi growled and pushed Naruto away. "Calm down, brat. This jutsu is a Wind Release one and it's called the Wind Cutter. It sends a sharp blade of wind at your opponent and is supposed to be easily manipulated. This isn't my natural affinity so it's more difficult for me to use it, but I can still cut people down." He'd done so in the past.

Naruto eagerly watched as his master slowly went through the hand-seals required for the technique to work. Roushi held his hands out to the side once he finished the sequence. "Wind Release: Wind Cutter Jutsu!" he bellowed.

Right after, he swung both of his arms forward in an upward crossing motion. None of the young jinchuriki could see anything except for a slight distortion of the air.

And then, a large tree a short distance away collapsed. The trunk was completely shredded through, with the attack continuing onward and causing even more damage. It was powerful, destructive, and hard to see.

The Kyuubi jinchuriki grinned widely. He looked to Roushi and the older man gave an assenting nod. He had given permission.

Roush wasn't going to say anything at first. Like he had done with the Great Breakthrough, the Yonbi jinchuriki wanted Naruto to try out the jutsu himself before looking for further instruction.

After going through the necessary seals, Naruto called out, "Wind Release: Wind Cutter Jutsu!" and swung his arms forward. Instead of crossing them like Roushi however, his opposing index fingers and thumbs mistakenly met in a rough diamond shape.

The distortion of the air wasn't present, but a shrill whistle pierced the air and blades of wind utterly eviscerated the collapsed tree. "Ha! Hell yeah! I'm amazing!" Naruto crowed, jumping up and down in success.

"That was... noteworthy," Gaara remarked. Truly, the destruction the jutsu had caused was something to admire.

Yugito nodded. "Much better than before," she said, smiling slightly at her fellow blond.

Naruto grinned at her and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He didn't even realize just how easy it was to use the Wind Cutter Jutsu compared to the Great Breakthrough.

"I really didn't think that jutsu would be this powerful," Roushi rumbled, walking over to the destroyed hunk of wood. There were chips of bark and branches everywhere, as well as piles of shredded greenery. He had a hunch as to why the technique worked, but that would need to be confirmed later – if it was even true.

Roushi walked back to Naruto and smirked at him. "Do it again."

"What?" Naruto asked with a blink of his eyes.

"I said, do it again. Let's see if you can cause any more destruction." Roushi nearly chuckled at how Naruto's eyes lit up. All males – and some females, like Yugito – had a penchant for destructive jutsu. The feeling one got from just blowing something large up was exhilarating.

Again, a shrill whistle pierced the air, and the sound of tearing wood graced everyone's ears. Roushi didn't really want to admit it, but he was impressed with the power behind the attack. Sure, Naruto was a jinchuriki and had an insane amount of chakra, but the power behind the attack was ridiculous.

The Iwa-nin wondered what it would look like if Naruto used it on an actual, living being. That would be very interesting to watch.

Gorey aftermaths aside, Roushi proceeded to make – not that he needed to – Naruto repeatedly fire off the Wind Cutter. What he needed Naruto to do was familiarize himself with its power, range, and seal sequence.

Once the clearing around the team of jinchuriki was slashed into oblivion, Roushi turned to the slightly panting Naruto. Oh, he wasn't tired from chakra exhaustion. Roushi had just forced him to speed up the attack over and over again.

"Got everything you need to see down?" Naruto nodded in affirmation. "Good. Let's get out of here and get a mission." Roushi abruptly started walking, not waiting for his students at all.

Naruto bit back a loud groan. D-ranks were just chores and weren't very interesting. He could tell Yugito and Gaara felt the same, but Roushi didn't really want another C-rank yet for some reason.

"You three want a C-rank, right?" Roushi asked, as if reading their minds. His students nodded; not that he could see it. "I think we can fit one in a few days, if you're all up to snuff."

"Good, I was getting bored of painting fences and watching dogs," Naruto glibly replied.

Gaara raised an eyebrow. "I thought you enjoyed the money the extra D-rank missions brought you."

"Well, yeah. It's not like I live in a hotel like you all do. I have a home to take care of. It's just that these missions don't really give us any experience. It's not like cleaning will help us fight ninja, right?" Naruto mused.

"It does give you patience, but I will admit you're getting better at that," Roushi rumbled. "I do agree with you, though."

The four exited the forest and headed to the Mission Room. On the way, they encountered Team Ten, minus Shikamaru and plus one Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke had an absolute murderous expression on his face due to Ino's incessant pestering.

The goal behind the team was to promote teamwork values in Sasuke and to help him warm up to his fellow Konoha-nin. It wasn't working. Although Team Ten was noteworthy for its teamwork, Shikamaru's temporary removal from the team wasn't doing them much good, considering he was the intelligent one behind their operations.

Chouji was content to simply munch on chips all day and Ino spent her time bothering Sasuke. Asuma was even more laid back than Kakashi was as well, furthering Sasuke's distaste of the whole situation. At least Sakura got Gai, who seemed to be a decent teacher, if a bit insane.

The slow pace, annoying pattering from Ino, and lack of any strenuous exercise was causing Sasuke to steadily reach his boiling point. He needed to take out his frustration, but Asuma wouldn't spar with him and Chouji and Ino were too weak. Sasuke couldn't go all out.

When he saw Naruto's team, he clenched his fists and glared. Sasuke couldn't help it; the dead last had two powerful teammates and an S-rank missing-nin to help him. Roushi's demeanor, from what he could tell, wasn't easygoing at all. The man seemed extremely likely to push his students as far as they could go.

"Hey Chouji, Ino. What's up? Oh, and you too, Sasuke," Naruto cheekily said with a mischevious grin. Chouji returned the greeting in-between mouthfuls of chips, while Ino flipped her hair back and gave a saucy reply.

"Naruto," Asuma stated, nodding to the blond. He gave Roushi a wary glance. "How are you doing with training? Are you all working together all right?"

"It's acceptable," Roushi grouched, not really wanting to say too much in front of the other genin.

"Acceptable?" Naruto said with a childish scowl. "You're _insane_, Roushi. Kakashi-sensei never did anything close to the crap you put us through!"

Roushi shrugged. "Don't whine. You're all lucky I spent my time on you to begin with. At least you're all improving."

Gaara sighed. "Roushi, you've pushed us to the point of near-collapse several times." The only reason they kept getting up was because they were containers.

Sasuke's jaw nearly dropped as Roushi again disregarded the statements of his students. This man had pushed Naruto of all people to the point of near-collapse? Naruto was a stamina _monster_ and that was without chakra exhaustion factored in. Naruto never even got chakra exhaustion to begin with!

When they were learning how to climb trees, Naruto nearly passed out from over-stressing his chakra coils, not chakra exhaustion.

His hands clenched again. "Of course someone like you would need remedial training," Sasuke angrily hissed out. "Once a dead last, always a dead last."

Of course, Sasuke normally wouldn't do something like this. He did acknowledge Naruto as a rival; he had to respect how fast Naruto had grown after graduating from the academy. Nonetheless, a slow pace of improvement and resentment had stewed for quite a while.

Yugito's eyes narrowed at the implication. Gaara seemed indifferent at first glance, but it was obvious that he would be irritated. "Are you trying to say something, bastard?" Naruto lowly asked, a threat identifiable in his voice.

Sasuke turned to fully face Naruto. "I'm saying that you're worthless. Why you even get any of this is beyond me," he spat.

"There's no need to be like that," Asuma interrupted. His words were ignored.

"I'll fight you right here!" Naruto declared with a fierce grin. "I'll even forget that you insulted my team and I."

Most of the present company were amazed that Naruto could even comprehend that. Sure, he was becoming smarter and getting better habits, but he was still borderline-idiotic at times. Roushi was always tempted to force the Kyuubi jinchuriki to read a dictionary or something.

Even though he was still somewhat angry, Sasuke grinned back. Naruto would definitely go all out, so Sasuke could finally get the fight he'd been itching for. It would be much better than relaxation day after day after day.

"Hold," Roushi stated in an authoritative voice. Immediately, Naruto backed down, but not without sending a scowl at his friend and rival. "So you two want to fight, eh?"

The genin and chunin present, as well as Asuma, sent inquiring looks towards the Iwa-nin. "How about this: tomorrow right before noon, you two can fight in Training Field Three. Hell, you can even invite your buddies if you really want to."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Asuma muttered. Any new skills Naruto had achieved weren't really known, except for perhaps Jiraiya – who'd taken an interest in the boy for some weird reason – and Kakashi, his former sensei. The Curse Seal was always an issue as well.

"I accept," Sasuke said without any hesitation.

Roushi was amused. "Even without hearing any of the terms? Anything goes, just so you know." That served to make Asuma frown.

"I don't care. I just want to fight him." Sasuke had been itching for a decent fight for a while.

"You have a deal," Naruto agreed with a feral grin, perfectly willing to test his new limits out.

If Sasuke could even really test those limits.

Asuma sighed. "Tell your friends, guys. I'm sure I can't convince Roushi-san here otherwise, unless...?"

"You can't," Roushi replied. "It might just be because I find the idea of these two fighting funny, but I'd really like to see Naruto fight against the one who was at the top of his graduating class. That, and the little brat insulted us."

Sasuke really couldn't care less about the others. It wasn't that he didn't like them, but that he was provoking Naruto.

"Naruto technically was last in our class though," Ino noted. She gave Naruto an apologetic look, but she thought Sasuke would trump her fellow blond in battle.

"People can change, Ino," Asuma chided. Chouji choose to remain silent throughout the confrontation, but had eaten at a faster pace when tension began to rise.

"I'm willing to bet he could beat every single one of you," Roushi offhandedly said, as if it wasn't even a big deal to him. "Even that Nara brat would probably be able to be defeated."

"Yeah! Wait, you actually believe that?" Naruto turned around and gave his sensei a confused look. Did Roushi really have that much faith in him?

Although, it could be that he thought everyone else sucked. Naruto felt like that fit Roushi more.

Sasuke sneered. "Tomorrow at Training Field Three, before noon. Don't pull a Kakashi." Then he left.

Asuma sighed tiredly. "I really don't think this would help his disposition, but if you're insistent..."

"I'd like to watch that battle," Gaara suddenly interrupted. "It will be amusing to see Naruto win. Let's go. We should get a D-rank now, before they're all gone."

Roushi nodded at Asuma and the jinchuriki all left. Naruto was talking to Gaara, thanking him for his support.

* * *

**-Training Field Three-**

A group of familiar genin, chunin, jounin and some other ninja that wanted to see how well the "enemy" trained their resident jinchuriki were present. Asuma, Ino, and Chouji had spread the news that a sanctioned fight between Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto was going to happen.

The group of ninja were in a wide circle around the two male genin, allowing them their full maneuverability and agility. One was in his original blue ninja clothing, while the other was in his orange tracksuit.

Although Roushi wanted Naruto to replace that tracksuit, he figured it wouldn't make much difference at the moment. Jinchuriki were meant to be more like battering rams, not sneaky infiltrators.

There was a nearby sigh. Kakashi was watching his two students, but his disapproval and disappointment were palpable. "I don't think they should do this, especially with Sasuke's condition."

Roushi snorted. "He won't win even if he uses that thing."

"It's not that," Kakashi said. He paused for a moment. "Sasuke might take this too far. I did teach him the Chidori."

"Really? You taught him an assassination technique? He isn't fast enough nor smart enough to use it efficiently." Roushi knew what the Chidori was capable of. Kakashi had used it several times in the past war; not that the Iwa-nin had seen it, though.

"I taught him that move so that he could protect his teammates, but after I spoke with him..." Kakashi trailed off. He had gone after Sasuke after the initial meeting in an attempt to tell the adolescent Uchiha just why he couldn't teach him and to quell his angered behavior.

Sasuke wasn't pleased, and neither was Kakashi. Sasuke's reaction that day told Kakashi that his student saw him merely as a means to an end. It was better before the Curse Seal, before Itachi saw him again and used his damned eyes to torture him.

"...I just have a bad feeling about this. No matter who wins, Sasuke is going to be unsatisfied. He's going down a dark path."

"Then kill him," Roushi simply said. At Kakashi's sharp look, the Iwa-nin shrugged. "Traitors aren't supposed to be tolerated, scion of a once-powerful clan or not. Frankly, I don't see why everyone thinks the Sharingan are such a big deal. They're just eyes."

"They're a useful tool," Kakashi pointed out. He knew what Roushi was saying was true, though. The Sharingan and all of its evolved forms were only eyes. Eyes were fragile; they were weak points even if they were protected by an armor of prediction and illusion.

Roushi grunted. He had a way to deal with the Sharingan. You couldn't predict what you couldn't see, after all. Thankfully, the only Sharingan user left that was any threat was Itachi, and Roushi had the advantage of experience should he ever fight the guy.

In another part of the circle, Sakura and Ino stood with the rest of the Rookie Nine, as well as Team Gai. "Man, this is so troublesome..." Shikamaru groaned. Why did Naruto and Sasuke have to fight? It was all pointless. They were comrades, so what was the point?

"I'm just looking forward to seeing Naruto get his ass kicked," Kiba said with a grin.

Ino nodded, still of the opinion that Naruto was going to lose. "Even if Naruto's gotten stronger, Sasuke-kun's gotten stronger as well."

Sakura wasn't so sure. She had seen how powerful Gaara was. He had transformed into a small monster before knocking her out. If Sasuke couldn't defeat him and Naruto supposedly could, could Sasuke really beat Naruto?

Oddly, her mind was conflicted on the matter. Gaara was on Naruto's team, along with some Kumo kunoichi who seemed to be more focused than the other kunoichi she had seen before. The Iwa-nin was blunt and had no qualms making threats that he could probably carry out if he wanted to.

If these were the people Naruto had been training every day with, how much stronger would he be?

Nearby, Shino shifted. "I don't believe we have enough information to make a viable assumption. Naruto's abilities haven't been truly revealed for quite a while."

"S-Shino-kun is right," Hinata quietly said, glancing slightly behind her. "Naruto-kun could've become much stronger..."

"Yosh!" Lee yelled, now lacking crutches, but still wearing heavy bandages on his legs. "This battle has the Flames of Youth burning brightly in it! I cannot wait for it to begin!"

Tenten and Neji rubbed their foreheads despondently at their exuberant teammate. Tenten was neutral, like Lee, but Neji was positive that Naruto would defeat Sasuke.

Neji had surreptitiously activated his Byakugan to observe Naruto's team some time ago. They were all... different. He already knew Naruto had a gargantuan amount of chakra in his body, but disregarded it as a unique quirk.

The others, though... he hadn't really been paying attention to Gaara when they had first met, but like Naruto, the rest of the blond's new team had huge chakra capacities. They weren't on-par with Naruto – except for the Iwa-nin, whose capacity was absolutely ridiculous – but they were relatively close.

In terms of everyone else, their chakra capacities outdid everyone. Neji hadn't ever seen anything like it and he had a feeling it had something to do with all of them being placed on a team together.

The male Hyuuga glanced back at the nearby Yugito and Gaara. They were watching their teammate, but their expressions were slightly vacant and lazy. It was as if they already knew the outcome of the battle and didn't feel the need to pay much attention.

He was too distracted to pay attention to the nearby Kumo-nin. Naruto's new team was an intriguing mystery.

Neji thought it odd that two technically foreign ninja had so much faith in their somewhat-new teammate. Perhaps that too correlated to the large chakra capacities they all had.

"Are you guys ready?" Iruka called out. He was notified as well and had come by to subtly cheer on Naruto. Sure, Sasuke had been his student as well, but he liked Naruto a little bit better.

Naruto and Sasuke nodded to Iruka, and the chunin backed away.

"Are you ready to lose, dead last?" Sasuke asked, a smirk on his face. "I'm going to put you in your place. How you even got this far is nothing short of amazing."

Naruto brushed off the Uchiha's words, but frowned at how Sasuke was trying to rile him up. "I'm going to make you eat your words, Sasuke, both for being an ass and for insulting my team. No one insults my friends," he said. There were some murmurs from the crowd at that.

From her position, Yugito felt some strange sensation at Naruto's words. Gaara allowed a small smile to tug on the corners of his lips. The rest of the Konoha Nine, as well as Team Gai, raised their eyebrows. It shouldn't have surprised them, given how easily Naruto befriended people.

Naruto settled his body into the stance Roushi had taught him. He left foot and and arm were forward, while his right foot was perpendicular to his left, and his right arm was held slightly back. Both of his knees were bent.

Kakashi recognized the stance immediately. "You taught him _that_?" he asked, aiming the question at Roushi.

The Iwa-nin barked out a laugh. "Ironic, isn't it? Especially for him." Kakashi stared at Roushi for a moment, but he returned his attention to the impending battle.

Roushi had taught Naruto a fighting stance common to the shinobi of Iwa. It really was ironic when one had all of the answers and actually thought about it.

Sasuke's eyes glinted as his Sharingan blazed to life. "You won't even lay a scratch on my forehead protector," he challenged.

"That's stupid," Naruto retorted. "Any ninja knows aiming for the neck or chest is better than the forehead. Why hit a small target?"

Anger slightly piqued, Sasuke shot forward like a rocket. In his mind, Naruto had always been bad at taijutsu. Naruto had always been slow and clumsy, with his only benefit being his stamina.

The first punch was turned aside by Naruto's left hand, and the blond retaliated quickly. With a speed that stunned most of the crowd, Naruto slammed his right fist into Sasuke's stomach. Instinctively, the boy doubled over in pain...

...Which gave Naruto the opportunity to bring his right knee up to Sasuke's face. Unfortunately, Sasuke wasn't useless. The dark-haired youth sidestepped his foe's knee and punched Naruto in the face.

Naruto didn't try to evade. He didn't need to. Sasuke couldn't deal heavy damage to him. So, Naruto took the blow while barely flinching and grabbed Sasuke's protruding arm. He threw the Uchiha over his shoulder and attempted to slam him into the ground.

Sasuke landed on his feet and violently kicked off the ground, dislodging Naruto's grip from his arm. The Uzumaki smirked at Sasuke, showing no visible bruise on his face.

The small exchange took about five seconds from sprinting start to landing completion. Sasuke took the time to reevaluate Naruto. Or, he would've, had Naruto not thrown a brace of shuriken at him.

The Sharingan allowed Sasuke to evade the throwing stars and he used a kunai to bat away the ones he couldn't. Seeing Naruto – along with four clones – charge towards him, Sasuke went through the hand-seals required for his signature jutsu.

"Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" A large, flaming fireball erupted from Sasuke's mouth, hurtling towards the clones and their originator.

He expected the clones to keep running and the real Naruto to evade. Instead, two of the clones helped launch their copies away from the trajectory of the fireball.

When the fireball collided with the Naruto everyone thought was real, that blond vanished in a puff of smoke as well. The dust the fireball's explosion caused provided for perfect cover; Sasuke hadn't actually seen the clone vanish in a puff of smoke.

Sasuke felt a surge of satisfaction at having hit Naruto, but he realized that the clones above weren't stopping. Each clone had a devilish smirk on their faces as they held their hands out in a diamond shape. "Wind Release: Wind Cutter!" the clones yelled.

Roushi's eyes widened. "Oh, shit," he muttered. He hadn't expected Naruto to begin using the technique already...

Loud, piercing whistles rang through the air and the area in front of Sasuke exploded. Dirt, dust, and pieces of greenery were dislodged and kicked up by the force of the blast. The force of the attack caused the ground beneath Sasuke to be blasted up, resulting in the Uchiha being sent flying back.

Unprepared for the attack, and shocked that Naruto knew a different jutsu, Sasuke landed heavily on his back. He scrambled to his feet as the clones formed the diamond shape with their hands again.

Kakashi glared at Roushi. "You taught him the Wind Cutter? There's a reason why I was instructed not to teach Naruto anything that could easily be overcharged."

"As long as he doesn't kill the Uchiha brat, he'll be fine," Roushi shot back. "I don't know why, but his body is more suited to piercing attacks than ones that utilize blunt force."

Back in the battle, Sasuke grit his teeth. He hadn't seen what hand-seals Naruto had used and didn't recognize the name of the technique used against him. The speed was ridiculous; even with his Sharingan he could barely track the vague pulse of chakra that was rocketed out from the hands of the clones.

Sasuke prepared his body, throwing his arms out in front of his face. Instead of a blast of wind hitting him, he heard two obnoxious voices yelling, "Just kidding, bastard!" followed by simultaneous poofs.

He took the bait and his arms lowered in disbelief. A Naruto in front of him was smiling widely, his fist cocked back. The ground below was cracked open.

The punch came too quickly for Sasuke to evade. Naruto's speed was much greater than he had thought and it was biting him in the ass. Sasuke was launched back and hit the ground hard, both of his hands pressed on his throbbing jaw.

"Ready to give up, bastard?" the real Naruto mockingly called out.

The Uchiha rose from the ground and bit back a groan. Naruto's punches _really_ _hurt_. How did the dead last get so powerful? It had to be that teacher. But why Naruto? Why? It just wasn't fair! He needed power more than Naruto! He needed to kill his brother and avenge his clan!

Itachi's words floated echoed in his mind. _Eyes like mine._ Sasuke bit his lip and steeled his resolve. He drew strength from his clan's heritage. "Give up? I'm an Uchiha! We never give up!" Sasuke screamed. Loud, crackling, blue electricity formed at Sasuke's fingertips, drawing gasps from the crowd.

"So it's come to this," Kakashi sadly muttered. The Chidori was meant to protect, not indiscriminately kill. He moved forward to stop the battle before it went too far, not that he needed Iruka's not-so-discreet signal, but stopped when he found Roushi's hand in his way.

"Don't. Naruto won't die. In fact, this is probably a good situation for him."

Kakashi gawked at Roushi's words, "What? Sasuke's aiming to kill Naruto! How is this a good situation?"

Wordlessly, Roushi tapped his stomach.

"I really don't like this." Kakashi didn't like it at all. At least the Curse Seal wasn't acting up.

Somewhere else, Sakura paled. "N-No... Sasuke-kun, what are you doing?" she whispered. She knew what the Chidori was supposed to do. Was Sasuke really going to try to kill his teammate?

Shikamaru was wide awake. "This isn't good. Does Sasuke really mean to kill Naruto?" he lowly asked.

"He wouldn't," Ino nervously said. "He's not like that... is he?"

"More like he can't," Yugito said, adding her own opinion in. "Techniques like the Chidori require an unsuspecting target or a target that is held in place. Naruto is neither. Unless he stands still like an idiot, he won't get hit. He can either use the Replacement or simply use another Wind Cutter."

"He won't do that, though," Gaara muttered. It was low enough for Yugito to hear, but everyone else gave Gaara a blank stare.

With the Chidori being dragged across the ground, Sasuke ran full-speed at Naruto. His teeth were clenched together and his eyes blazing with murder. The ground was torn up as the Chidori was raked across it, sending debris particles into the air.

As Naruto watched Sasuke approached, he had to admit that his once-rival wasn't as powerful as he thought. Maybe it was because of Roushi's training, or perhaps it was because Sasuke was ill-prepared. One thing was for sure, though; the battle was over.

Sasuke's usage of the Chidori hadn't really fazed Naruto. For some reason, he knew that Sasuke would eventually attack him. It all had to do with Itachi and revenge. Getting stronger, finding Itachi, killing Itachi, and then avenging his butchered clan.

Naruto couldn't really fault him, though. The pain of losing someone was horrible. It was probably part of what was driving Sasuke. Maybe that was why Sasuke didn't want anyone to help him kill Itachi? So that he could never feel that horrible again?

Whatever Sasuke's reasons were, he was aiming to kill Naruto. Even though he had partially grown apart from his old team, Naruto felt sad that his friend would actually attempt to kill him.

"_Could I please get some help, Kyuubi?"_ Naruto politely asked the Tailed Beast.

There was a grumbling from deep within his mind, like an angry beast was being awoken from a nap. Naruto had been conversing with the Kyuubi regularly. They weren't anywhere near friends, but Naruto knew that the Kyuubi enjoyed their talks. Somehow.

Its threats of mauling him and turning him into bloody paste notwithstanding. Roushi said the fox would come around eventually. Naruto would just have to keep trying.

Red, noxious chakra quickly swirled around his hands and traveled through his body. Naruto had used just enough of the chakra for it not to be noticeable.

His reaction time sped up and everything around him looked like it slowed down. The extra speed was always nice.

Just then, Sasuke crashed into him with all of the force of a raging river. Only, it yielded nothing. Naruto's left hand was holding Sasuke's hand that was crackling with Chidori away, and his right hand was palming a kunai that was held up to the Uchiha's neck.

"You lose."

The electricity surrounding Sasuke's arm faded and Naruto shoved him back. The Uchiha was stunned into submission and he let himself fall back onto his rear.

Naruto sighed sadly. "Think about it, Sasuke... is gaining strength to fight your brother so necessary that you'd be willing to kill me, your friend? Do you really want me all alone again?"

Naruto wasn't really introspective. He was anything but that, actually.

However, Sasuke was his friend. His very first, honest-to-goodness friend. Sasuke was willing to become a missing-nin. By attempting to kill Naruto, Sasuke had technically announced that he was abandoning the ideals of his village.

Sure, Naruto's attacks could've been lethal as well, but he had been careful to avoid hitting Sasuke. That was the difference; Naruto had been careful.

Sasuke hadn't. The Grand Fireball, while deadly, could've been easily avoided. It was most useful in maneuvering enemies into more disadvantageous positions, not complete killing.

The Chidori was used to kill. That was its capability. Not to wound, but to kill. Naruto felt slightly guilty that has friend was actually driven to such extremes.

Then, there was the sound of clapping. Some ninja, impressed with the battle and not understanding the implications of Sasuke's attack, clapped for them. More people began to join and it became clear that while there was polite clapping for Sasuke, it was more congratulatory towards Naruto.

After all, Naruto was supposed to be the dead last. The loser. The one who would never amount to anything. What were the chances that he'd defeat Uchiha Sasuke?

The feeling of acknowledgment, of praise... it was intoxicating. People were smiling at him. Naruto grinned widely and bowed childishly. "Heh, yeah! I told you all I was awesome!" he shouted.

A few people laughed at that. Naruto's happiness was much more infectious than Sasuke's anger and gloom.

Gaara strode forward, making sure not to bump into people as he walked up to his teammate. Yugito nodded to herself. It was... a satisfactory ending to a battle. Not how she would've done it, but still good enough.

"Gaara and I told you all," Yugito drawled. "Naruto has become much more powerful than before."

"Yosh!" Lee proclaimed. "Naruto-kun has stoked his Flames of Youth even after Sasuke-kun tried to put them out with that most shameful attack!"

The Kumo kunoichi ignored the strange genin and walked through the rookies. She walked up to Naruto, brushing up near him and giving him a small smile of congratulations.

Sasuke, still sitting on the ground, refused any help from Kakashi. The Uchiha grit his teeth and ducked his head angrily.

"I'm disappointed in you," Kakashi muttered.

Sasuke glared at Kakashi, but he was unable to defend himself. He felt somewhat ashamed of himself, that he had just tried his brother's way of gaining power – by killing his best friend.

"I taught you the Chidori so that you could protect your teammates with it, not try to kill them," Kakashi continued. When Sasuke looked away, Kakashi grew irritated. He grabbed Sasuke's shoulder and forced the boy to look at him. "Are you ever going to drop that complex you have?"

"What the hell would you know?" Sasuke spat.

Kakashi paused. What the hell did he know? He knew more than a snot-nosed brat who wasn't worthy enough to lick the dirt from Obito's sandals. "I know more than you. I've already seen all of my friends die. I've already killed their killers. I've already been betrayed more than once in my lifetime. I've seen and done it all."

Sasuke scoffed. "I don't believe you."

"Then I'll show you," Kakashi said, steel in his voice. Sasuke was disrespecting his loved ones, those who had died to save him, to save Konoha, or to save their comrades. With his hand still on Sasuke's shoulder, Kakashi performed a Body Flicker.

"Hey, where'd Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei go?" a confused Naruto asked, looking around for his former teammate and his former sensei. "I swear I just saw them, you know?"

"They probably went somewhere to stroke the Uchiha brat's ego." Jiraiya jumped down from the tree he was in and ruffled Naruto's hair. "I see little Uzumaki Naruto is going up! Wish I could've seen the battle, kid. Sorry about that, but you stopped the Chidori pretty good."

"I was wondering when you'd show up," Roushi growled. He gave Jiraiya a pointed look. "We're supposed to deal with what we talked about, remember?"

The matter directly pertained to Gaara's seal. An insomniac, jinchuriki or not, wasn't completely all there. Gaara would always be slightly less aware than his teammates, regardless of the presence of the Beast within him. That would need to be remedied and Jiraiya had just the thing.

"Oh, right. Sorry about that, it's just that I've been _so_ busy lately. You know, with research," Jiraiya answered with a perverted smirk. "The process will begin in a few days. I finally got the materials I needed."

Roushi gave Gaara a significant glance. "It's about time," the Iwa-nin grumbled. "If you three want to eat, do whatever you want. I need to get some things. Meet me in the Mission Room an hour after noon."

The three jinchuriki nodded and Roushi vanished. No Body Flicker, no blur, just simple, pure speed. It was apparently enough to impress Gai, who was chatting animatedly to his team. Unfortunately for two of Team Gai's members, Roushi's speed set the odd man off about the prospect of additional training.

Naruto rubbed his hands together, ignoring Gai's loud shouts. "So, how about some ramen...?"

Jiraiya guffawed and the other two jinchuriki palmed their faces at Naruto's ridiculous addiction.

**To be Continued...**

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******AN:** And with that, Chapter 4 concludes! For those of you who don't know, in order to make his move a bit more DBZ-like, **"Etc Flip"** gave Naruto Goku's fighting stance since in this story he can't use "breath" techniques and can only use wind jutsu that require the use of his hands. So, he uses the Wind Cutter Jutsu with his hands thrust forward like he's launching a high-powered Ki Blast.  


**This Chapter is called "A Proper Battle" because Sasuke and Naruto's match in the hospital was interrupted by Jiraiya.  
**

**Anyway, please R&R and don't forget check out me and ****Etc Flip**'s other fanfic's!** Peace!**


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